PROF.    HITCHCOCK'S 


ANNIVERSARY    ADDRESS 


H  F,  i  •  u  a  i ;   T  n  f 


|  ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICAN  GEOLOGISTS, 


PHILADELPHIA,   APRIL   5,    1841 


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FIRST 


ANNIVERSARY    ADDRESS 


BEFORE    THE 


ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICAN  GEOLOGISTS, 


AT    THEIR 


SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING 


PHILADELPHIA,   APRIL   5,    1841. 


BY    EDWARD    HITCHCOCK,    LL.  D. 

Prof.  Chera.  and  Nat.  Hist.  Amherst  College;  Geologist  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Chairman  of  the  Association  for  1840. 


NEW    HAVEN: 

PRINTED    BY    B.    L.    HAMLEN, 
1841. 


Q  fc  - 
•VYS 


ADDRESS 


GENTLEMEN  or  THE  ASSOCIATION  :  —  It  may  be  expected  on  this 
occasion,  that  I  should  give  some  account  of  the  origin  and  pro- 
gress of  this  society.  The  history  is  short.  A  number  of  geol- 
ogists had  for  years  been  employed  in  prosecuting  geological 
surveys  in  many  widely  separated  states  of  the  Union,  and  as 
they  were  bringing  their  labors  towards  a  close,  they  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  compare  notes  with  one  another,  that  they  might  clear 
up  points  obscure  in  the  districts  which  they  had  examined,  but 
which  might  perhaps  be  fully  developed  in  others,  and  that  more 
uniformity  might  be  secured  in  the  final  results.  The  gentlemen 
of  the  New  York  survey  at  length  issued  a  circular,  inviting 
those  engaged  in  similar  surveys  in  the  other  states,  to  a  meeting 
in  this  city  a  year  ago.  The  number  that  responded  to  the  invi- 
tation by  their  attendance,  was  not  large.  But  I  am  sure  that  I 
shall  speak  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  present,  when  I  say  that 
the  meeting  was  most  pleasant  and  profitable.  It  was  highly 
gratifying  for  those,  who  had  long  been  engaged  in  the  same 
work  in  widely  separated  fields,  and  who  knew  one  another  only 
by  reputation,  to  be  able  to  exchange  salutations,  and  hear  one 
another's  voices,  and  share  one  another's  sympathies.  Particu- 
larly important  was  it  for  those  of  us  who  are  very  much  insula- 
ted from  geological  society  and  counsel,  to  meet  those  who  could 
solve  our  difficulties,  and  by  detailing  the  phenomena  of  their  own 
districts,  could  throw  light  upon  obscurities  that  hung  over  our 
own. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  present 
meeting  should  have  been  appointed  ;  nor  that  we  should  have 
ventured  to  invite  others  to  join  us,  who  are  engaged  in  similar 
pursuits,  although  not  in  the  state  surveys  ;  and  some  of  whom 
are  our  seniors  in  cultivating  the  noble  science  of  geology. 

As  to  the  ulterior  plans  of  this  Association,  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  have  been  concerted,  whatever  may  be  in  the  minds  of 


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4 

individual  members.  It  will  be  seen  that  their  grand  object  is  to 
develope  American  geology  in  a  quiet  and  unostentatious  man- 
ner. Whatever  measures  will  promote  this  object,  will  meet,  I 
presume,  the  support  of  the  members  ; — and  whoever  has  it  so 
much  at  heart,  that  he  is  willing  to  engage  in  active  and  ener- 
getic labors  to  promote  its  advancement,  will  doubtless  be  wel- 
comed to  their  fraternity.  While  they  acknowledge  their  indebt- 
edness to  similar  associations  in  Europe,  for  the  example  which 
they  have  set,  and  especially  to  the  London  Geological  Society, 
the  noble  mother  of  them  all ;  they  do  not  aspire  to  be  compared 
to  any  of  them,  until  the  fruits  of  their  labors  shall  make  such 
comparisons  involuntary.  They  wish  to  be  known  only  as  an 
association  of  geologists,  who  love  their  favorite  science  so  well, 
that  they  will  pursue  it  with  almost  equal  ardor,  whether  they 
are  noticed  or  unnoticed,  whether  patronized  or  neglected.  It  is 
their  motto, 

Hoc  opus,  hoc  studiura,  parvi  propereraus  et  ampli. 

I  propose,  gentlemen,  at  this  time,  to  sketch  briefly  the  most 
important  points  in  American  geology,  that,  require  your  special 
attention.  In  doing  this,  I  must  of  course  give  some  account  of 
what  has  been  already  done  in  this  wide  field.  And  as  far  as 
possible,  I  shall  treat  both  of  these  subjects  together. 

Until  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  almost  noth- 
ing had  been  done  by  Americans  to  develope  our  mineralogy  or 
geology.  And  until  the  year  1807,  although  mineralogy  had 
begun  to  excite  some  interest,  yet  no  effort  worthy  of  notice  had 
been  made  in  geology.  In  that  year,  William  Maclure  commen- 
ced, single-handed,  the  Herculean  task  of  tracing  out  and  deline- 
ating the  great  features  of  our  rock  formations.  This  he  at 
length  accomplished  ;  after  crossing  the  Alleghany  mountains  in 
fifty  places.  This  was  certainly  a  most  remarkable  example  of 
persevering  devotedness  to  a  favorite  pursuit ;  and  cannot  but 
embalm  his  memory  in  the  heart  of  every  American  geologist. 

We  must  not  presume  from  this  isolated  instance,  that  any  cor- 
respondent knowledge  of  this  subject  existed  at  that  time  in  our 
country.  On  this  point  we  have  the  striking  testimony  of  one, 
who  is  still  among  us  in  the  vigor  of  ripe  manhood,  to  witness  the 
wondrous  change  which  his  own  labors  and  those  of  others  have 
produced.  "  We  speak  from  experience,"  says  Prof.  Silliman, 
"and  well  remember  with  what  impatient  but  almost  despairing 


curiosity  we  eyed  the  bleak,  naked  ridges  which  impended  over 
the  valleys  that  were  the  scenes  of  our  youthful  excursions.  In 
vain  did  we  doubt  that  the  glittering  spangles  of  mica,  and  the 
still  more  alluring  brilliancy  of  pyrites,  gave  assurance  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  precious  metals  in  these  substances ;  or  that  the 
cutting  of  glass  by  the  garnet,  and  by  quartz,  proved  that  these 
minerals  were  the  diamond  ;  but  if  they  were  not  precious  me- 
tals, and  if  they  were  not  diamonds,  we  in  vain  enquired  of  our 
companions,  and  even  of  our  teachers,  what  they  were." — Am. 
Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  I,  p.  36. 

I  cannot,  on  this  occasion,  go  into  minute  details  of  the  labors, 
or  even  of  the  names  of  those,  by  whom  this  state  of  things  in  a 
few  years  was  entirely  changed.  In  1810,  appeared  the  Miner- 
alogical  Journal  of  Dr.  Bruce:  in  1816,  the  work  of  Prof.  Cleave- 
land  on  Mineralogy  and  Geology  :  in  1818,  the  American  Journal 
of  Science  was  commenced  by  Prof.  Silliman  :  a  work  which  has 
always  been  an  efficient  instrument  in  promoting  a  knowledge 
of  geology  as  well  as  other  sciences ;  and  which,  by  great  efforts, 
has  now  reached  its  forty  first  volume.  In  this  connection,  the 
Monthly  American  Journal  of  Geology  and  Natural  Science,  by 
Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  which  reached  only  its  first  volume,  should 
not  be  forgotten.  The  transactions  of  several  of  our  scientific  so- 
cieties, especially  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  in  this  city, 
of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  in  New  York,  and  of  the  Amer- 
ican Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  at  Boston,  have  contained 
many  most  valuable  papers  illustrative  of  the  geological  features  of 
this  continent.  An  American  Geological  Society  was  formed  in 
1818:  but  it  has  accomplished  little,  except  that  it  has  a  valua- 
ble collection  of  specimens  and  books,  chiefly  through  the  liber- 
ality of  its  president,  William  Maclure.  The  Pennsylvania  Ge- 
ological Society  was  organized  in  1832,  and  published  two  vol- 
umes of  its  transactions.  Several  other  societies  in  the  country, 
of  a  more  local  character,  have  contributed  essentially  to  the  pro- 
motion of  geology  ;  and  the  recent  organization  of  the  National 
Institution  for  the  promotion  of  science  at  Washington,  and  its 
vigorous  commencement,  promise  much  for  this  branch  of  know- 
ledge. 

But  the  feature  in  the  history  of  American  geology,  to  which 
I  feel  bound  to  call  special  attention,  is  the  institution  of  state 
geological  surveys  by  the  civil  authorities.  I  regard  this  feature 


6 

as  peculiarly  American,  for  I  am  not  aware  that  any  general  sur- 
vey of  a  large  district,  had  been  ordered  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  till  after  it  had  been  done  in  this  country.  At  any  rate, 
sure  I  am,  that  it  was  entirely  original  with  those  who  introduced 
it  here.  North  Carolina  has  the  honor  of  having  first  directed  a 
survey  of  her  territory.  This  duty  was  committed  to  Prof.  Olm- 
sted,  who  made  a  report  of  one  hundred  and  forty  one  pages,  in 
1824  and  1825,  upon  the  economical  geology  of  the  state.  The 
year  following,  South  Carolina  gave  a  similar  commission  to  Prof. 
Vanuxem,  whose  report  was  published  only  in  the  newspapers. 
An  interval  of  five  or  six  years  succeeded,  before  Massachusetts 
engaged  in  the  work.  In  1830,  she  ordered  a  survey ; — in 
1832,  an  annual  report  of  seventy  pages,  and  in  1833,  one  of 
seven  hundred  pages,  with  a  second  edition  in  1835,  were  pub- 
lished. In  1837,  a  re-survey  was  directed ;  in  1838,  an  an- 
nual report  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  nine  pages  was  printed, 
and  the  final  report  of  eight  hundred  and  forty  quarto  pages  with 
fifty  five  plates,  is  just  completed.  Tennessee  began  the  work 
only  two  or  three  years  after  Massachusetts,  and  committed  it  to 
Prof.  Troost,  who  has  published  five  annual  reports  in  pamphlets 
of  thirty  to  eighty  pages,  with  a  geological  map  of  the  state.  In 
Maryland,  the  work  was  begun  in  1834,  and  Prof.  Ducatel  was 
appointed  to  execute  it,  who  has  made  seven  annual  reports  of 
about  fifty  pages  each,  with  numerous  maps  and  sections.  The 
survey  of  New  Jersey  was  ordered  in  1835  ;  in  1836,  Prof.  Henry 
D.  Rogers,  the  commissioned  geologist,  made  a  report  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  eight  pages,  with  extensive  sections  ;  arid  in 
1840,  his  final  report  of  three  hundred  and  one  pages,  with  a  ge- 
ological map  of  the  state  and  sections.  The  state  of  New  York 
was  divided  into  four  sections  ;  and  Profs.  Vanuxem,  Mather,  and 
Emmons,  with  Mr.  James  Hall,  as  geologists,  Mr.  Conrad  as  pale- 
ontologist, and  Prof.  L.  C.  Beck  as  chemist,  were  appointed  in 
1836,  to  survey  them.  Up  to  the  present  time,  they  have  made 
five  reports  ;  the  first  of  two  hundred  and  twelve  pages,  the  se- 
cond of  three  hundred  and  eighty  four  pages,  the  third  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  one  pages,  the  .fourth  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  four  pages,  and  the  fifth  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  four 
pages.  The  work  is  now  nearly  completed  ;  and  the  gentlemen 
are  engaged  in  preparing  their  final  report.  The  survey  of  Yir- 
ginia  was  committed  to  Prof.  William  B.  Rogers,  who,  since  1835, 


has  made  six  reports  :  the  first  of  thirty  six  pages,  the  second  of 
thirty  pages,  the  third  of  fifty  four  pages,  the  fourth  of  thirty  two 
pages,  the  fifth  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  one  pages,  and  the  sixth 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty  two  pages. 

Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson  was  appointed  state  geologist  of  Maine, 
in  1836,  and  he  has  since  made  three  reports ;  the  first  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  eight  pages,  the  second  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  eight  pages,  and  the  third  of  three  hundred  and  forty  pages. 
He  has  also  surveyed  the  public  lands  of  Maine  and  Massachu- 
setts, and  made  two  reports.  In  1839,  the  same  gentleman  was 
appointed  to  survey  Rhode  Island ;  and  his  final  report,  of  three 
hundred  and  twelve  pages,  with  a  geological  map  and  sections, 
appeared  in  1840.  In  1840,  he  was  commissioned  to  survey  New 
Hampshire,  and  his  first  annual  report  will  soon  appear.  The 
survey  of  Connecticut  has  been  made  by  Dr.  J.  G.  Percival  and 
Prof.  Charles  U.  Shepard.  The  latter  made  a  report  in  1837,  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty  eight  pages,  upon  the  economical  miner- 
alogy of  the  state.  The  report  of  the  former  gentleman  has  not 
yet  been  published,  but  is  expected  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing 
year.  The  survey  of  Pennsylvania  was  begun  in  1836,  by 
Prof.  Henry  D.  Rogers,  who  has  made  five  annual  reports ;  the 
first  of  twenty  two  pages,  the  second  of  ninety  three  pages,  the 
third  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  pages,  the  fourth  of  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  two  pages,  and  the  fifth  of  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty nine  pages.  The  survey  of  Ohio  was  committed  to  Prof. 
Mather,  as  principal  geologist,  assisted  by  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth,  Profs. 
John  Locke  and  J.  C.  Briggs,  and  J.  W.  Poster.  Their  first  re- 
port of  one  hundred  and  thirty  four  pages,  was  made  in  1837, 
and  their  second  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  six  pages,  with  nu- 
merous drawings,  in  1838.  Delaware  commenced  this  work  in 
1837,  under  the  direction  of  James  C.  Booth,  Esq.,  who  has  made 
two  annual  reports  of  a  few  pages,  and  his  final  report  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  pages,  is  nearly  through  the  press.  In  Mich- 
igan, the  survey  was  committed  to  Douglass  Honghton,  Esq., 
with  assistants.  His  first  report  of  thirty  seven  pages,  was  made 
in  1838,  and  his  three  subsequent  ones  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  three,  one  hundred  and  twenty  four,  and  one  hundred  and 
eighty  four  pages,  in  successive  years.  In  1837,  Dr.  D.  D.  Owen 
commenced  a  survey  of  Indiana,  and  he  has  since  published  two 
reports  of  thirty  four  and  fifty  four  pages.  In  Kentucky,  the 


8 

work  was  begun  in  1838,  but  has  yet  proceeded  no  farther  than 
a  reconnoissance  by  Prof.  Mather.  In  Georgia,  Mr.  John  R.  Cot- 
ting  was  commissioned  in  1836 ;  he  informs  me,  that  about 
half  the  state  has  been  surveyed ;  that  three  section  lines,  from 
three  hundred  to  four  hundred  miles  long,  have  been  explored ; 
that  "a  vast  amount  of  interesting  materials,  both  geological  and 
agricultural,  has  been  collected ;  and  that  it  is  in  contemplation 
to  publish  a  volume  of  six  hundred  pages  the  present  year." 

In  1834,  the  United  States  government  directed  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh  to  examine,  geologically,  "  the  Territory  of  Arkansas, 
and  the  adjacent  public  lands."  He  has  made  two  reports,  one 
of  ninety  seven  pages,  and  another  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  eight 
pages,  with  numerous  sections.  In  1839,  Dr.  D.  D.  Owen  was 
commissioned  to  examine  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  and  his  report, 
in  connection  with  that  of  Dr.  Locke,  made  in  1840,  contains 
one  hundred  and  sixty  one  pages.  Mr.  Nicollet  has  also  been 
surveying,  both  astronomically  and  geologically,  the  northwestern 
portion  of  our  country,  including  a  vast  region  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi ;  and  his  report  is  now  in  a  course  of  publication,  with  a 
geological  section  tracing  a  distance  of  nearly  two  thousand  miles. 

I  ought  not  to  omit  to  mention  an  act  of  private  munificence, 
which  occurred  before  any  of  the  state  surveys  were  commenced. 
The  late  Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  directed  a  geological  sur- 
vey to  be  made  of  the  entire  route  of  the  Erie  canal,  at  his  own 
private  expense.  This  work  was  executed  by  Prof.  Amos  Eaton, 
who  in  1824,  published  a  report  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  three 
pages,  with  a  section  from  the  Atlantic  to  Lake  Erie.  I  might 
also  mention  with  propriety,  the  surveys  of  several  mineral 
districts  by  private  companies  ;  such  as  those  of  the  coal-fields 
of  Pennsylvania,  by  R.  C.  Taylor,  Esq.,  and  Prof.  Johnson ;  of 
the  gold  region  of  Virginia,  and  of  portions  of  the  coal-fields  of 
Pennsylvania,  by  Prof.  Silliman  ;  of  the  iron  region  of  Missouri, 
by  Prof.  Shepard,  &c.  But  time  will  not  permit  me  to  enter  into 
fuller  details. 

From  these  statements  it  appears,  that  within  the  last  sixteen 
or  seventeen  years,  surveys  have  been  commenced  in  no  less 
than  nineteen  states,  and  two  of  the  territories  of  this  Union ; 
embracing  an  area  of  nearly  seven  hundred  thousand  square 
miles.  For  the  last  four  or  five  years,  not  less  than  twenty  five 
principal  geologists,  and  forty  assistant  geologists,  have  been  con- 


stantly  employed  in  the  examination  of  this  vast  region,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  state  governments  or  of  that  of  the  Union. 
In  three  or  four  of  the  states,  the  surveys  are  for  the  present  sus- 
pended j  not,  however,  from  a  conviction  of  their  being  useless, 
but  from  peculiar  circumstances.  In  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
Ohio,  and  Michigan,  zoological  and  botanical  surveys  are  con- 
nected with  the  geological ;  in  Maryland,  Ohio  and  Michigan, 
there  is  a  topographical  department ; — and  on  these  various  sub- 
jects several  valuable  reports  have  already  appeared,  which  this 
is  not  the  proper  place  to  notice. 

I  ought  also  to  mention  here  that  the  British  provinces  of  New 
Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  have  been  geologically  examined  by 
Dr.  Gessner,  who  has  made  reports.  I  am  credibly  informed, 
also,  that  the  governor  general  of  Canada,  will  recommend 
strongly  to  the  House  of  Assembly  at  their  next  session,  to  order 
a  geological  survey  of  that  territory. 

Another  very  important  feature,  of  most  of  these  surveys,  is  the 
chemical  department.  In  the  New  York  survey,  one  gentleman 
'devotes  himself  to  it  exclusively.  In  some  other  stales,  also,  as 
in  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  laborato- 
ries for  the  sole  purpose  of  analyzing  the  substances  discovered, 
are  fitted  up,  and  one  or  two  chemists  are  employed  in  them 
through  the  year.  The  number  of  analyses  already  executed  in 
these  establishments  is  immense,  amounting  to  several  thousands, 
and  when  they  are  all  published,  it  will  be  seen  that  they  have  a 
most  important  bearing,  not  only  in  an  economical,  but  also  in  a 
scientific  point  of  view. 

The  annual  reports  have  been  confined  chiefly  to  economical 
geology; — but  it  was  understood  from  the  commencement,  that 
careful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  scientific  geology  of  the 
regions  examined,  and  that  the  details  should  be  given  in  the  final 
reports.  An  immense  mass  of  materials  must  now  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  gentlemen  concerned  in  the  surveys ;  and  we  may 
anticipate  from  their  publication,  most  interesting  disclosures  re- 
specting the  geology  of  this  country.  Then  too,  the  extensive 
and  complete  collections  of  our  rocks,  fossils,  minerals  and  soils, 
which  have  been  made  and  will  be  deposited  in  the  capitals  of 
the  states,  will  prove  an  invaluable  treasure.  Another  important 
result,  which  I  trust  only  a  few  years  will  see  consummated,  will 
be  the  construction  of  an  accurate  geological  map  of  the  whole  of 

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the  United  States ; — for  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  that  surveys 
will  be  soon  ordered  in  the  comparatively  few  states  that  yet  re- 
main unexamined ; — or  if  they  should  not,  if  I  form  a  right  es- 
timate of  the  spirit  that  actuates  American  geologists,  a  work  of 
such  importance  will  not  be  left  incomplete.  But  the  liberal  feel- 
ing that  has  led  so  many  of  our  state  governments,  within  a  few 
years,  to  do  so  much  for  geology,  forbids  the  idea  that  any  of  this 
work  will  be  left  for  volunteer  labor.  I  cannot  but  feel,  that 
the  liberal  governmental  patronage  which  geology  has  of  late 
received  among  us,  and  the  fact  that  this  patronage  has  come 
from  all  classes  in  the  community,  should  make  us  justly  proud  of 
the  enlarged  views  and  extensive  knowledge  displayed  by  our 
countrymen.  I  speak  advisedly,  when  I  say,  that  probably  our 
favorite  science  is  now  in  this  country  twenty  years  in  advance  of 
what  it  would  have  been,  if  left  to  individual  efforts. 

Let  us  now  enquire  how  much  of  American  geology  has  been 
developed  by  all  the  efforts  that  .have  been  made,  with  and  with- 
out governmental  patronage.  As  I  must  depend  for  these  state- 
ments upon  what  has  already  been  published,  I  shall  of  course 
fall  far  short  of  the  actual  knowledge  that  is  possessed  on  this 
subject  by  individuals. 

The  primary  rocks  of  this  continent,  both  stratified  and  un- 
stratified,  correspond  so  exactly  with, those  in  other  parts  of  the 
world,  as  to  be  easily  identified.  For  the  most  part,  also,  they 
compose  the  principal  axes  of  our  extended  chains  of  mountains. 
Thus,  we  find  a  range  of  these  rocks,  commencing  in  Alabama, 
and  extending  northeasterly,  in  a  belt  from  eighty  to  one  hundred 
miles  broad,  to  New  York  ;  and  thence  through  New  England, 
occupying  nearly  the  whole  surface  ;  and  probably  from  thence 
to  Labrador.  In  the  northern  part  of  New  York,  a  range  diver- 
ges from  that  just  described,  and  extends  in  a  westerly  and  north- 
westerly direction,  till  it  approaches  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which 
are  also  primary.  Thus  the  vast  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  is 
bounded  for  the  most  part,  on  three  sides  by  primary  rocks,  while 
the  secondary  and  tertiary  strata  are  found  chiefly  in  that  valley, 
and  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  as  far  north  as  New  York. 

Only  a  small  portion  of  these  vast  primary  deposits  has  yet 
been  carefully  examined ; — nor  have  many  features  been  discov- 
ered in  them  that  are  very  peculiar.  The  vast  deposit  of  Labra- 
dor feldspar  and  hypersthene  rock,  in  the  north  part  of  New  York, 


11 

as  described  by  Prof.  Emmons,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting. 
The  same  gentleman  has,  also,  given  us  some  remarkable  details 
respecting  the  occurrence  of  genuine  injected  veins  of  limestone 
in.  granite,  in  the  county  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  facts  have  led 
him  to  discuss  the  question  whether  all  primary  limestones  ought 
not  to  be  classed  among  the  unstratified  rocks.  This  question,  I 
apprehend,  we  have  in  this  country  abundant  means  of  deciding, 
as  we  have  the  analogous  question  respecting  serpentine ;  since 
we  have  numerous  and  extensive  beds  of  both  these  rocks  associ- 
ated with  the  oldest  of  our  strata.  That  they  are  metamorphic 
in  a  high  degree,  no  one  can  doubt :  nor  is  it  less  certain  that 
serpentine  connected  with  talcose  slate  and  gneiss,  exhibits  nu- 
merous divisional  planes ;  and  often  these  are  parallel  to  the 
planes  of  stratification  in  the  adjoining  strata ; — but  the  question 
still  remains,  whether  that  divisional  structure  may  not  be  the 
result  of  metamorphic  agency  instead  of  original  deposition. 

The  northwestern  border  of  the  primary  stratified  belt  of  rocks, 
extending  from  Alabama  to  Canada,  a  distance  of  at  least  twelve 
hundred  miles,  is  composed  of  interstratified  beds  of  taleose  and 
mica  slates,  gneiss,  and  granular  limestone.  I  do  not  doubt  (at 
least,  from  all  that  I  can  learn)  that  these  rocks  are  continuous  over 
this  vast  distance;  forming  perhaps  the  longest  belt  of  limestone 
on  the  globe.  A  considerable  part  of  this  limestone  is  more  or 
less  magnesian  ;  and  in  many  places  pure  dolomite.  It  furnishes, 
therefore,  a  fine  field  for  studying  the  phenomena  and  the  origin 
of  dolomitization.  As  to  that  portion  of  this  field  which  has  fall- 
en under  my  observation,  I  find,  that  with  one  or  two  unimpor- 
tant exceptions,  all  the  cases  of  dolornitized  limestone  occur, 
either  in  the  vicinity  of  a  fault,  or  of  unstratified  rocks,  or  of  the 
oldest  gneiss.  The  pure  dolomite  is  usually  found  where  there  is 
reason  to  believe  extensive  dislocations  of  the  strata  occur  ;  and 
the  marks  of  stratification  in  the  limestone  disappear,  nearly  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  magnesia  which  it  contains,  so  that 
the  pure  dolomite  shows  scarcely  any  traces  of  it.  I  doubt  not 
that  similar  conclusions  will  follow  an  examination  of  other  parts 
of  this  deposit,  so  remarkably  uniform  is  the  geology  of  this 
continent ; — and  moreover,  these  conclusions  correspond  to  the 
history  of  dolomitization  in  Europe.  They  seem  to  render  prob- 
able the  theory  of  sublimation  from  the  interior  of  the  earth. 


12 

I  have  noticed  another  analogous  and  singular  fact  in  connec- 
tion with  this  limestone,  and  doubt  not  that  it  is  common  through- 
out its  whole  extent ;  although  I  have  seen  it  mentioned  by  no  one 
except  Prof.  Mather,  in  his  account  of  the  rocks  of  eastern  New 
York ;  but  am  informed  by  Prof.  Rogers  that  it  is  common  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  Where  the  limestone  comes  in  con- 
tact with  mica  and  talcose  slates,  they  are  often  highly  impregna- 
ted with  carbon,  for  several  feet  or  rods  from  the  line  of  junction. 
There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the  carbonic  acid,  which  has 
penetrated  the  slates,  has  been  decomposed  to  produce  this  result. 
Farther  examination,  in  other  localities,  will  probably  throw  addi- 
tional light  on  the  subject. 

The  phenomena  of  dykes  and  veins,  especially  along  the  east- 
ern margin  of  the  primary  ranges  of  New  England,  are  of  a 
highly  interesting  character.  Some  of  the  dykes  of  greenstone 
appear  to  be  of  great  size  and  extent.  Dr.  Percival  has,  with 
great  labor,  traced  two  of  these,  through  gneiss  and  mica  slate, 
nearly  across  the  state  of  Connecticut ;  and  I  think  I  have  found 
their  continuation  across  the  whole  of  Massachusetts  ;  nor  do  I 
doubt  that  they  extend  far  into  New  Hampshire.  Already  these 
two  dykes  have  been  followed  nearly  ninety  miles  in  length  ;  and 
they  are  usually  several  rods  wide.  Their  direction  almost  coin- 
cides with  the  strike  of  the  strata.  In  Maine,  they  -have  been 
found  in  great  number  and  extent,  by  Dr.  Jackson,  in  the  primary 
strata,  and  they  have  more  distinctly  the  character  of  genuine 
dykes  than  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts. 

In  some  of  our  sienitic  rocks,  we  find  a  perfect  plexus  of  dykes 
and  veins.  I  have  examined  one  spot  in  the  city  of  Salem  with 
a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  I  cannot  see  why  it  does  not  afford 
us  evidence  of  the  protrusion  of  unstratified  rocks  at  eleven  dif- 
ferent epochs ;  admitting  that  the  intersection  of  one  vein  by 
another  proves  the  posteriority  of  the  latter.  The  dykes  at  this 
spot  are  varieties  of  greenstone,  and  the  veins  chiefly  feldspar. 

Among  the  multitude  of  substances  in  our  primary  rocks  that 
deserve  further  attention,  I  can  here  mention  only  the  oxide  of 
tin.  Three  localities  of  this  mineral,  affording  however  only 
small  disseminated  crystals,  have  long  been  known  in  Massachu- 
setts. But  within  the  last  year,  Prof.  Shepard  has  discovered  a 
more  promising  locality  in  Connecticut,  and  Dr.  Jackson  another 


13 

in  New  Hampshire.  The  probability  is,  therefore,  strong,  that 
this  interesting  metal  will  ere  long  be  obtained  from  our  own 
mountains. 

You  will  perceive  that  under  the  term  primary  rocks  I  have 
included  none  that  are  fossiliferous.  The  latter,  especially  those 
usually  denominated  transition,  have,  as  is  well  known,  an  im- 
mense developement  in  our  country.  A  single  vast  basin,  ex- 
tending from  the  Apalachian  chain  nearly  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  from  the  centre  of  Alabama,  in  a  northern  direction, 
perhaps  even  to  the  Arctic  sea,  not  less  than  two  thousand 
miles  long  and  twelve  hundred  broad,  and  consequently  covering 
about  two  and  a  half  millions  of  square  miles ; — this  wide  region 
forms  almost  one  uninterrupted  deposit  of  older  secondary  or  tran- 
sition rocks;  the  largest  undoubtedly  on  the  globe.  Until  re- 
cently, these  rocks  could  be  described  only  under  the  vague 
designation  of  graywacke.  But  light  is  beginning  to  shine  in 
upon  the  chaos.  The  upper  member,  that  which  embraces  the 
bituminous  and  anasphaltic  coals  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Missouri,  seems  now  to  be  well  identified 
with  the  coal  measures  of  Europe.  This  forms  a  convenient 
starting  point,  and  all  that  remains  is  to  compare  the  groups  be- 
low the  coal,  with  those  similarly  situated  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.  Professors  Henry  D.  and  William  B.  Rogers  have  divi- 
ded this  vast  series  into  twelve  formations  j  and  these,  including 
the  coal  measures,  which  make  the  thirteenth  formation,  they 
find  to  be  not  less  than  forty  thousand  feet  thick.  Whatever 
may  be  their  views  as  to  the  identity  of  these  groups  with  rocks 
described  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  they  have  refrained  from 
expressing  an  opinion,  in  their  annual  geological  reports.  But 
other  gentlemen  suppose  they  have  discovered  marks  of  identity, 
in  respect  to  several  of  the  groups,  too  strong  to  be  resisted.  It 
is  difficult  to  read  the  reports  of  the  Ohio  geologists,  especially 
that  of  Dr.  Locke,  and  those  of  Dr.  Houghton,  Mr.  Featherston- 
haugh,  Prof.  Troost,  and  that  of  Dr.  Owen  on  the  mineral  lands 
of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  and  that  of  Mr.  Conrad  on  the  New 
York  survey  for  1841,  without  being  convinced  that  the  car- 
boniferous or  mountain  limestone  is  extensively  developed  from 
Pennsylvania  westward  at  least  fifteen  hundred  miles;  while 
here,  as  in  England,  it  forms  the  repository  of  an  immense  accu- 
mulation of  lead  ore.  Mr.  Taylor,  I  believe,  first  pointed  out  the 


14 

probable  existence  of  the  old  red  sandstone,  or  Devonian  system, 
in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York ;  and  this 
opinion  becomes  more  probable,  since  the  discovery  by  Mr.  Con- 
rad, of  remains  of  the  Holoptychus  nobilissimus,  a  fish  very  char- 
acteristic of  the  old  red  sandstone  in  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Hall 
makes  this  group  four  hundred  feet  thick,  lying  immediately 
beneath  the  coal-measures. 

Strong  reasons  have  been  presented  by  Messrs.  Conrad  and  Va- 
nuxem,  founded  upon  a  comparison  of  organic  remains,  for  suppo- 
sing that  a  large  part  of  the  rocks  below  the  old  red  satidstone,  in 
the  vast  area  under  consideration,  and  especially  in  New  York,  are 
identical  with  the  Silurian  rocks  of  Great  Britain.  The  former 
gentleman  recognizes  all  the  important  subdivisions  of  this  group 
described  by  Mr.  Murchison,  except  perhaps  the  Llandeilo  rocks, 
which  are  the  lowest.  The  Caradoc  sandstone,  the  Wenlock 
shale  arid  limestone,  and  the  Ludlow  rocks,  are  distinctly  mark- 
ed.* And  in  speaking  of  organic  remains,  as  a  means  of  identi- 
fying strata,  he  remarks,  that  "  an  instance  never  occurs  in  this 
country,  where  the  species  of  one  formation  are  continued  into 
an  upper  one  in  such  numbers  as  to  cause  the  least  perplexity  or 
dispute  regarding  its  geological  age.  All  the  various  eras  are  ad- 
mirably recorded,  each  by  its  peculiar  group  of  animal  or  vegeta- 
ble remains ;  and  to  him  who  has  carefully  studied  them,  they 
are  quite  as  intelligible  as  if  the  hand  of  nature  had  arranged 
them  in  a  cabinet  for  his  use." — Am.  Journal  of  Science,  Vol. 
35,  p.  237. 

These  suggestions  open  a  wide  field  for  investigation.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  important  problems  in  American  geology  ; — and 
from  the  immense  extent  occupied  by  these  rocks,  I  can  hardly 
doubt  that  here  will  be  found  the  most  complete  type  of  the  tran- 
sition formations  that  has  yet  been  described.  Accordingly,  in 
his  report  for  1841,  Mr.  Conrad  says,  that  "  nature  has  probably 
enabled  the  geologist  to  apply  this  classification  (of  Murchison) 
in  a  more  clear  and  satisfactory  manner  to  the  rocks  of  this  coun- 
try than  to  those  of  Europe,  since  the  series  is  certainly  more 
complete,  and  the  organic  remains  more  abundant  in  species."  I 

*  He  says  also,  that  "  the  inhabitants  of  the  seas  (in  which  these  rocks  were  de- 
posited) have  been  destroyed,  and  new  creatures  succeeded,  at  five  different  epochs; 
and  one  of  these  groups  is  no  more  to  be  compared  with  another,  than  is  the  oolite 
with  the  green  sand  formation." — Jim.  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  35,  p.  246. 


15 

rejoice  that  the  work  is  in  such  able  hands,  and  that  so  many  ob- 
servers are  busy  at  so  many  points,  and  on  different  sides  of  the 
vast  field. 

Besides  the  principal  basin  of  the  transition  rocks  just  described, 
detached  deposits  are  sometimes  met  with  in  our  country  ;  as  for 
example,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  ; — 
and  I  mention  this,  just  to  say,  that  I  have  recently  come  to  the 
conclusion,  that  even  that  limited  district  probably  contains,  in  a 
descending  order,  coal  measures,  the  old  red  sandstone,  and  be- 
neath these,  older  transition  strata. 

Are  we  to  infer  that  the  coal-bearing  strata  once  extended  over 
the  immense  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  and  that  they  have  been 
worn  away,  except  in  particular  districts  ?  I  shall  not  discuss 
this  question  :  but  if  the  negative  be  true,  we  may  still  lay  claim 
probably  to  the  largest  coal-fields  in  the  world.  It  is  a  fact  of 
great  interest,  also,  that  the  coal  along  the  eastern  part  of  the 
great  valley,  or  in  the  vicinity  of  primary  rocks,  as  has  been 
abundantly  shown  by  Professors  Rogers  and  Johnson,  is  almost 
destitute  of  bitumen ;  and  that  as  we  go  west,  it  becomes  more 
and  more  bituminous.  It  is  an  interesting  inquiry,  whether  the 
coal  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  exhibits  a  similar 
change,  as  we  recede  from  the  chain.  It  is  also  a  curious  fact, 
that  gypsum  and  salt  springs  should  usually  be  found  below  the 
coal  measures  in  this  country,  and  not  above  them,  as  in  Europe. 

In  extensive  troughs  of  the  primary  rocks,  along  the  Atlantic 
slope  of  the  United  States,  there  occurs  a  formation  of  fine  and 
coarse  sandstones  and  shales,  with  a  predominant  red  color,  asso- 
ciated with  beds  of  lime^one  and  calcareous  breccia.  The  most 
extensive  deposit  of  this  group  commences  on  the  Hudson  river, 
in  New  Jersey,  and  thence  pursues  a  southwesterly  course  through 
that  state,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  into  North  Car- 
olina, and  perhaps  beyond  that  state.  A  smaller  deposit  occupies 
the  valley  of  Connecticut  river,  and  extends  across  the  states  of 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  A  third  deposit,  according  to 
Dr.  Jackson,  is  found  in  the  eastern  part  of  Maine  ;  and  a  fourth 
has  been  described  in  Nova  Scotia;  where,  according  to  Jackson 
and  Alger,  it  contains  gypsum  and  salt  springs,  and  overlies  bitu- 
minous coal. 

The  lithological  characters  of  the  rocks  in  all  these  deposits, 
are  so  similar,  that  the  observer  is  at  once  satisfied  of  their  iden- 


16 

tity.  Besides,  in  all  of  them  we  find  limestones  of  a  similar  cha- 
racter, extensive  ridges  and  dykes  of  greenstone,  and  ores  of  cop- 
per, associated  with  the  sandstones  and  shales  ; — so  that  there  can 
hardly  remain  a  doubt  as  to  the  identity  in  age  of  all  these  de- 
posits. But  can  we  determine  their  true  place  on  the  geological 
scale  ? 

The  Professors  Rogers,  who  have  extensively  examined  this  for- 
mation in  the  middle  states,  have  ascertained  that  it  is  more  re- 
cent than  the  coal  measures ;  and  with  commendable  caution, 
they  have  called  it  the  middle  secondary.  With  less  of  pru- 
dence I  long  since  ventured  to  denominate  it  the  new  red  sand- 
stone ; — and  I  hope  it  is  not  prejudice  which  makes  the  argument 
in  favor  of  this  opinion  appear  to  be  now  almost  complete.  A 
careful  comparison  of  numerous  specimens  of  this  formation  with 
a  series  from  the  new  red  sandstone  of  continental  Europe,  and 
Great  Britain,  shows  a  striking  resemblance  in  lithological  cha- 
racters. But  the  argument  from  the  organic  remains  is  the  most 
decisive.  In  the  shales  of  this  formation,  especially  in  New  Eng- 
land and  New  Jersey,  have  been  found  numerous  specimens  of 
fossil  fishes  of  the  genera  Palaeoniscus  and  Catopterus,  all  of 
which  have  heterocercal  tails.*  Now  in  Europe,  Prof.  Agassiz 
finds  that  such  fish  rarely,  if  ever,  occur  in  any  rock  above  the 
new  red  sandstone.  But  in  that  formation  he  finds  not  less  than 
a  dozen  species  of  the  genera  just  mentioned.  They  occur,  how- 
ever, in  the  coal  formations,  beneath  the  red  sandstone.  But  it 
seems  to  be  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  group  in  our  country 
under  consideration,  is  more  recent  than  the  coal  measures.  And 
since  the  heterocercal  fishes  found  in  U  show  that  it  must  be 
older  than  the  lias,  I  see  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
the  new  red  sandstone.  There  are  other  arguments  to  the  same 
point ;  but  they  are  less  decisive.  Whether  we  shall  find  all  the 
subdivisions  of  this  formation  in  our  country  that  exist  in  Eu- 
rope, remains  to  be  seen.  I  have  little  doubt,  however,  that 
several  of  them  may  be  easily  recognized  ;  as,  for  example,  the 
variegated  marls  and  sandstone,  the  new  red  conglomerate,  (Rothe 
todte  liegende,}  and  the  zechstcin. 

*  J  am  informed  by  Messrs.  Redfield,  the  father  and  the  son,  who  have  so  suc- 
cessfully devoted  themselves  to  an  examination  of  our  fossil  fishes,  that  they  have 
found  not  less  than  nine  species  of  these  genera  in  our  rocks. 


17 

Thus  far,  as  we  have  ascended  on  the  scale  of  rocks,  we  have 
found,  if  I  mistake  not,  so  full  a  developement  of  the  European 
formations  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  that  it  would  not  be 
strange,  if  at  no  distant  period,  this  country  should  become  clas- 
sic ground  for  their  study.  But  we  now  reach  a  wide  hiatus  of 
the  extensive  groups  of  the  lias,  oolite  and  wealden,  which  have  as 
yet  been  scarcely  identified  on  this  continent.  Humboldt  did, 
indeed,  express  the  opinion,  that  he  had  met  with  the  oolite  in 
the  equinoctial  zone  of  South  America ;  and  Mr.  Lea  has  descri- 
bed some  fossils  from  New  Grenada,  in  the  seventh  volume,  sec- 
ond series,  of  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Soci- 
ety, which  he  refers  to  the  same  formation.  But  Von  Buch,  in 
his  recent  splendid  work  on  some  of  the  fossils  of  South  America, 
regards  them  as  belonging  to  the  cretaceous  group.  Mr.  Conrad, 
however,  has  just  announced  the  existence  "  of  well  characterized 
and  undoubted  oolite  in  the  state  of  Ohio." — Report  on  the  New 
York  Survey  for  1841. 

When  we  rise  still  higher  on  the  geological  scale,  we  meet  with 
a  remarkable  group  of  rocks,  occupying  a  wide  belt  from  New  Jer- 
sey to  Alabama,  and  much  surface  also  in  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Tennessee,  Arkansas,  and,  as  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Nicollet,  ex- 
tending from  Council  Bluffs  on  the  Missouri,  several  hundred 
miles  westward,  nearly  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  all  of  which 
was  identified,  I  believe,  first  by  Prof.  Yanuxem,  with  the  creta- 
ceous formation  of  Europe,  although  it  contains  no  chalk.  The 
subsequent  extensive  and  accurate  researches  of  Dr.  Morton,  Mr. 
Conrad,  and  others,  have  completely  confirmed  this  opinion  j — and 
it  furnishes  an  interesting  example  of  the  value  of  organic  re- 
mains in  identifying  groups  of  rocks  very  much  unlike  in  litho- 
logical  characters.  It  is  another  instance,  moreover,  of  the  enor- 
mous scale  on  which  geological  operations  have  taken  place  in 
this  country.  From  the  recent  memoir  of  the  veteran  geologist, 
Von  Buch,  just  referred  to,  it  appears  that  this  same  formation 
extends  through  a  considerable  portion  of  South  America,  and 
decidedly  predominates  among  the  secondary  rocks  of  the  Andes. 

Equally  successful,  as  in  the  case  of  the  cretaceous  rocks,  have 
been  the  labors  of  Conrad,  Vanuxem,  Morton,  Lea,  the  brothers 
Rogers  and  others,  in  developing  the  tertiary  deposits  of  this 
country.  The  most  northerly  point  along  our  coast  where  these 
are  found,  is  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  or  perhaps  Nantuck- 

3 


18 

et.  Thence  in  passing  southerly,  we  find  them  occupying  Long 
Island  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  Atlantic  states,  from  New  Jersey 
to  Florida,  and  the  southern  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  These 
too  correspond  to  the  other  features  of  our  geology,  in  being  of  vast 
extent  and  of  decided  characters.  Three  principal  groups  of  these 
strata,  as  described  by  Conrad  and  Morton,  viz.  the  lower  or 
eocene,  the  medial,  and  the  upper  or  newer  pliocene,  seem  to  be 
well  made  out  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  group  named 
post-tertiary  by  Mr.  Lyell,  is  found  also  in  the  northern  part  of 
New  York  and  in  Canada,  containing  shells  of  a  more  arctic 
character  than  those  now  living  in  the  same  latitudes. 

Excepting  the  remarkable  insulated  labors  of  Mr.  Hayden,  the 
drift,  or  diluvium  of  this  country,  has,  until  recently,  received  less 
attention  than  almost  any  other  formation.  The  same  has  been 
true  in  Europe.  This  results  in  part  from  the  fact,  that  it  cannot 
be  successfully  studied  until  the  character  and  limits  of  all  the 
subjacent  formations  are  well  understood.  The  state  surveys, 
however,  have  brought  to  light  enough  of  our  diluvial  phenomena 
to  show  us,  that  though  a  difficult  subject,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  in  the  whole  history  of  our  rocks. 

It  is  an  important  inquiry,  whether  the  phenomena  of  drift 
in  this- country,  correspond  with  those  of  the  eastern  continent. 
Until  recently,  I  confess,  I  have  doubted  whether  some  of  the 
most  striking  of  these  phenomena  were  not  much  more  fully 
developed  here  than  in  most  countries  of  Europe.  I  refer  par- 
ticularly to  the  smoothing,  polishing,  scratching  and  furrowing 
of  the  rocks  in  place,  and  to  those  accumulations  of  gravel, 
bowlders,  and  sand,  which  form  conical  and  oblong  tumuli,  with 
tortuous  ridges  of  the  same,  and  which  abound  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  country,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
But  the  recent  investigations  and  accurate  descriptions  by  Agassiz, 
Buckland,  Lyell,  Sefstroom,  and  others,  have  satisfied  me  of  the 
almost  exact  identity  of  the  facts  in  relation  to  drift  on  the  two 
continents.  The  resemblance,  however,  seems  to  be  most  com- 
plete in  this  respect  between  Scandinavia  and  this  country. 
Except  in  Sweden,  I  have  not  yet  seen  evidence  that  the  scarifi- 
cation of  the  rocks  is  as  common  in  Europe  as  in  New  England, 
where  if  they  were  denuded  of  soil  it  seems  to  me,  one  third  of 
the  surface  would  be  found  smoothed  and  furrowed.  But  it  is 
now  found  to  be  very  common  in  Scotland,  England,  and  espe- 


19 

daily  in  Switzerland.  It  appears  too,  that  those  countries  abound 
in  those  peculiar  accumulations  of  gravel  and  bowlders  to  which 
I  have  referred,  and  which  are  now  regarded  as  ancient  moraines. 
Bowlders,  also,  appear  to  have  been  dispersed  in  a  similar  manner 
on  both  continents. 

If  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  the  drift  of  this  country  exhibits 
usually  the  following  lithoiogical  characters  and  superposition. 
The  principal  mass  of  the  drift  consists  of  coarse  sand,  pebbles, 
and  bowlders,  often  several  feet  in  diameter,  usually  mixed  to- 
gether confusedly,  but  sometimes  exhibiting,  at  least  for  small 
distances,  more  or  less  of  a  stratified  arrangement  This  mass  of 
detritus,  not  unfrequently  one  hundred  feet  thick,  occupies  the 
lowest  position ;  that  is,  it  rests  immediately  on  the  smoothed  and 
striated  rocks  in  place.  Sometimes  there  is  mixed  with  it  fine 
sand  or  mud  ;  and  occasionally  a  limited  mass  of  clay,  appearing 
as  if  out  of  its  original  position.  Above  this  deposit,  in  most  of 
the  larger  valleys,  as  those  of  the  Hudson,  Connecticut,  and  Pe- 
nobscot,  and  in  many  smaller  ones,  we  find  horizontal  layers  of 
fine  blue  clay,  rarely  as  much  as  one  hundred  feet  thick.  Above 
the  clay,  and  of  less  thickness,  we  have  a  bed  of  sand,  becoming 
coarser  towards  the  top,  and  exhibiting  sometimes  at  its  surface, 
marks  of  a  stronger  movement  in  the  waters  by  which  it  was  de- 
posited, than  could  have  taken  place  while  the  clay  was  in  a 
course  of  formation.  Scattered  over  the  whole  surface,  but  con- 
fined chiefly  to  the  region  abounding  in  gravel,  we  find  insulated 
blocks,  sometimes  rounded  and  sometimes  angular. 

Now  if  I  have  not  mistaken  the  recent  descriptions  of  Euro- 
pean drift,  its  composition  and  arrangement  correspond  with  those 
of  the  drift  of  this  country  ;  and  scarcely  any  thing  seems  want- 
ing to  make  out  a  complete  identity. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  theory  of  drift  has  for  some  years 
been  the  most  unsettled  part  of  geology.  The  mass  of  geolo- 
gists have,  indeed,  admitted  that  in  some  way  or  other,  currents 
of  water  have  been  the  principal  agency  employed,  because  they 
witness  somewhat  analogous  effects  from  aqueous  action;  and, 
until  recently,  no  other  power  of  adequate  energy  and  extent  has 
been  known  to  exist.  Hence  they  have  been  willing  to  retain 
the  term  diluvial,  as  a  generic  expression,  implying  simply  aque- 
ous agency  in  general.  Yet  so  many  difficulties  attend  any  the- 
ory of  mere  currents,  that  many  geologists  have  become  sceptical 


20 

in  regard  to  every  particular  theory  that  has  been  proposed.  I  con- 
fess myself  to  have  been  long  of  that  number.  Yet  it  has  seemed 
to  me  of  useful  tendency  to  make  isolated  inferences  from  the 
facts  developed ;  and  although  they  may  seem  to  favor  rival  hy- 
potheses, and  will  need  modification,  as  new  light  falls  on  the 
subject,  yet  they  will  form  the  elements  out  of  which  a  legitimate 
theory  will  ultimately  spring.  Allow  me  to  present  for  your  con- 
sideration, a  summary  of  the  most  important  of  these  inferences, 
as  they  have  been  developed  to  my  own  mind  in  examining  the 
diluvial  phenomena  of  this  country. 

In  the  first  place,  these  phenomena  must  have  been  the  result 
of  some  very  general  force,  or  forces,  operating  in  the  same  gen- 
eral direction  j  that  is,  southerly  or  southeasterly.  For  in  a 
southerly  direction  has  the  drift  been  so  uniformly  carried,  and 
the  furrows  and  scratches  on  the  rocks  so  generally  point  south- 
erly, that  the  force  which  produced  these  effects  must  have  tend- 
ed thither.  Our  valleys  have,  indeed,  considerably  modified  the 
course  of  the  drift ;  but  not  enough  to  contradict  the  general 
.statement.  It  would  be  strange  if  careful  examination  should 
not  discover  here,  as  in  the  Alps  and  in  Great  Britain,  that  the 
moving  force  had  sometimes  been  exerted  outwardly  from  the 
axes  of  high  mountains.  But  I  am  not  aware  that  as  yet  any 
facts  of  importance  in  favor  of  such  an  opinion,  have  been  brought 
to  light.  At  any  rate,  the  evidence  of  a  force  urging  detritus 
and  bowlders  in  a  southerly,  or  more  strictly  in  a  southeasterly 
direction,  is  too  marked,  and  has  been  noticed  by  too  many  inde- 
pendent observers,  over  a  breadth  of  nearly  two  thousand  miles, 
to  be  doubted  ;  even  though  local  exceptions  should  be  discover- 
ed ; — and  such  a  uniformity  of  direction  over  so  vast  an  area,  in- 
dicates a  very  general  agency. 

Secondly,  this  agency  has  operated  at  all  altitudes,  from  the 
present  sea  level,  and  probably  beneath  it,  to  the  height  of  three 
thousand  or  four  thousand  feet.  In  New  England,  most  of  our 
hills  and  mountains,  not  excepting  insulated  peaks,  not  higher 
than  three  thousand  feet,  are  distinctly  smoothed  and  furrowed 
on  their  tops  and  northern  slopes,  and  upon  their  east  and  west 
flanks,  to  the  bottom  of  the  lowest  valleys.  Dr.  Jackson  sup- 
poses he  has  found  transported  detritus  on  Mount  Katahdin, 
four  thousand  feet  high.  But  he  could  discover  no  marks  of  this 
action  at  the  summit  of  the  White  mountains  of  New  Hampshire, 


21 

which  are  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty  four  feet  high  ; 
although  the  nature  of  the  rock  there,  is  most  unfavorable  for 
preserving  furrows  and  markings. 

Thirdly,  the  smoothing  and  furrowing  of  the  rocks  exhibits 
almost  equal  freshness  at  all  altitudes,  which  indicates  an  ap- 
proach to  synchronism  in  the  producing  cause. 

Fourthly,  the  almost  perfect  parallelism  preserved  by  the 
grooves  and  scratches  over  wide  regions,  shows  that  they  were 
made  by  the  projecting  angles  of  very  large  and  heavy  masses  of 
great  extent,  moving  over  the  surface  with  almost  irresistible 
force,  by  water  or  some  other  mighty  agent.  There  is  sometimes 
more  than  one  set  of  scratches,  which  intersect  one  another  at  a 
small  angle,  as  has  been  shown  by  Prof.  Locke  to  occur  in  Ohio, 
but  each  set  preserves  its  parallelism  most  perfectly.  Even  where 
they  pass  over  high  and  precipitous  ridges,  they  are  rarely  turned 
out  of  their  course. 

Fifthly,  this  agency  appears  to  have  been  less  and  less  power- 
ful as  we  go  southerly.  We  have  as  yet,  indeed,  had  but  few 
trusty  reports  on  this  subject  from  the  southern  portions  of  North 
America ;  but  had  the  phenomena  of  drift  been  as  striking  there 
as  in  New  England,  New  York  and  Canada,  they  would  certainly, 
ere  this,  have  been  described.  It  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  how- 
ever, that  De  la  Beche  has  described  the  drift  of  Jamaica  as  very 
similar  to  that  of  New  England. 

Sixthly,  the  relative  levels  of  the  surface  have  not  been  essen- 
tially changed  by  vertical  movements,  since  the  epoch  in  which 
this  agency  was  exerted.  They  could  not  have  been  much 
changed  without  disturbing  the  detritus,  often  fancifully  arranged 
in  the  valleys  and  on  the  flanks  of  the  hills  ;  nor  without  some- 
times breaking  up  the  smoothed  and  furrowed  surfaces  of  the 
rocks  along  their  joints  or  planes  of  stratification.  But  such  a 
disturbance  I  have  never  witnessed. 

Seventhly,  the  North  American  continent  must  have  attained 
essentially,  its  present  height  above  the  ocean,  previous  to  the  ex- 
ertion of  this  agency.  For  all  our  formations,  as  high  at  least  as 
the  eocene  tertiary,  are  covered  with  drift ;  and  I  know  of  no  ev- 
idence of  any  important  uplift  subsequent  to  that  which  has  tilted 
up  our  tertiary  strata.  This  work,  therefore,  could  not  have  been 
accomplished  while  the  continent  was  beneath  the  ocean.  Other 
evidence  of  this  position  might  be  adduced,  did  time  permit. 


22 

Eighthly,  water  must  have  been  one  of  the  forces  employed 
in  this  agency.  The  regular  deposits  of  clay  and  sand  which 
form  the  upper  part  of  the  diluvial  deposit,  must  surely  have 
been  accumulated  at  the  bottom  of  bodies  of  water,  which  have 
subsequently  been  drained  off.  Much,  also,  of  the  finer  part  of 
our  drift  is  more  or  less  stratified,  and  exhibits  that  oblique  lamin- 
ation which  is  peculiar  to  aqueous  deposits.  Nor  can  I  conceive 
of  any  other  mode  in  which  detritus  has  been  transported  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  as  ours  has  been,  but  by  the  aid  of  water ;  al- 
though this  alone  could  not  do  it.  In  New  England,  we  have 
been  able  to  trace  erratic  blocks  not  more  than  one  hundred  or 
two  hundred  miles,  because  we  then  reach  the  ocean.  But  in 
the  central  parts  of  the  country,  I  am  informed  by  Prof.  Mather, 
that  the  primary  bowlders  from  Canada  and  the  western  part  of 
Michigan,  are  found  as  far  south  as  the  river  Ohio  ;  which  would 
make  their  maximum  transit  from  four  hundred  to  five  hundred 
miles  ;  about  the  same  distance  as  the  bowlders  from  Scandinavia 
have  been  carried  into  Germany.  What  agency  but  water  could 
have  effected  such  a  transportation  ? 

It  is  very  natural,  also,  to  ascribe  the  smoothness  and  furrow- 
ing of  the  rocks  to  the  action  of  water.  But  I  have  in  vain  ex- 
amined the  beds  of  our  mountain  torrents  and  the  shores  of  the 
Atlantic,  where  the  rocks  have  been  exposed  to  the  unshielded 
and  everlasting  concussion  of  the  breakers,  and  can  find  no  at- 
trition that  will  compare  at  all  with  that  connected  with  drift ; 
and  I  am  satisfied  that  to  explain  it  we  must  resort  to  some  other 
agency. 

Ninthly,  ice  must  have  been  another  agent  employed  to  pro- 
duce the  phenomena  of  drift.  What  else  could  have  transported 
large  blocks  and  gravel  over  such  a  wide  space  as  has  been  men- 
tioned, and  have  lodged  them  too,  upon  the  crests  of  narrow  and 
precipitous  ridges;  and  especially,  what  other  agent  could  have 
produced  those  singular  mounds  arid  peculiar  ridges  of  gravel  and 
bowlders  that  meet  us  in  so  many  places  ? 

Tenthly,  this  agency  must  have  been  exerted  previously  to  the 
existence  of  man  upon  this  continent,  and  have  been  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  destroy  organic  life  almost  entirely.  For  the  remains 
of  man  and  other  existing  animals  have  not  been  found  in  drift  ; 
but  those  occurring  there  belong  chiefly  to  extinct  species,  while 
the  deposits  of  clay  and  sand  made  during  the  same  period, 
scarcely  contain  a  species  of  animal  or  plant. 


Yet  eleventhly,  this  agency  must  have  been  comparatively 
recent.  For  the  disintegration  of  the  surface  of  the  smoothed 
and  furrowed  rocks  to  the  depth  of  half  an  inch,  would  usually 
obliterate  all  traces  of  their  erosion.  Yet  in  how  many  places 
does  this  effect  appear  as  distinct  as  if  produced  during  the  pres- 
ent century ! 

Finally,  this  agency  must  have  been  far  more  powerful  than 
any  now  operating  upon  the  globe.  In  the  language  of  Prof. 
John  Phillips,  which  he  applies  to  the  phenomena  of  drift  in 
general,  "  such  effects  are  not  at  this  day  in  progress,  nor  can  we 
conceive  the  possibility  of  their  being  produced  by  the  operation 
of  existing  agencies  operating  with  their  present  intensities  and 
in  their  present  directions." — Treatise  on  Geology,  Vol.  1,  p. 
296. 

Beyond  such  independent  inferences  as  these,  I  confess  I  have 
been  of  late  years  unwilling  to  go ;  and  have  regarded  the  nu- 
merous theories  of  diluvial  action,  which  have  recently  appeared, 
only  as  ingenious  hypotheses.  But  it  is  well  known  that  the 
Glacier  Theory,  originally  suggested  by  M.  Venetz,  and  subse- 
quently adopted  by  M.  Charpentier,  and  more  fully  developed  of 
late  by  Agassiz,  is  now  exciting  great  interest  in  Europe.  To 
say  nothing  of  geologists  in  this  country  who  have  expressed 
themselves  favorably  towards  it;*  it  is  surely  enough  to  recom- 
mend it  to  a  careful  examination,  to  learn  that  such  men  as  Agas- 
siz, Buckland,  Lyell  and  Murchison,  after  long  examination,  have 
more  or  less  fully  adopted  it;  although  on  the  other  hand,  it  ought 
to  be  mentioned,  that  such  geologists  as  Beaumont,  Sedgwick, 
Whewell,  Mantell,  and  others,  still  hesitate  to  receive  it. 

In  a  country  like  ours,  where  no  glaciers  exist  except  in  very 
high  latitudes,  and  with  the  very  defective  accounts  which  have 
hitherto  been  given  of  those  in  the  Alps,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
attempt  to  explain  the  vast  phenomena  of  diluvial  action  by 
such  an  agency,  should  appear  at  first  view,  fanciful,  and  even 
puerile.  But  the  recent  work  of  Agassiz,  entitled  Etudes  sur  les 
Glaciers,  gives  a  new  aspect  to  the  subject.  It  is  the  result  of 
observations  made  during  five  summers  in  the  Alps,  especially 
upon  the  glaciers ;  about  which  so  much  has  been  said,  but  con- 

*  See  Mr.  Conrad's  Notes  on  American  Geology,  in  Am.  Journal  of  Science, 
Vol.  xxxv,  p.  237. 


24 

cerning  which  so  little  of  geological  importance  has  been  known. 
Henceforth,  however,  glacial  action  must  form  an  important 
chapter  in  geology.  While  reading  this  work  and  the  abstracts 
of  some  papers  by  Agassiz,  Buckland  and  Lyell,  on  the  evidence 
of  ancient  glaciers  in  Scotland  and  England,  I  seemed  to  be  ac- 
quiring a  new  geological  sense ;  and  I  look  upon  our  smoothed 
arid  striated  rocks,  our  accumulations  of  gravel,  and  the  tout  en- 
semble of  diluvial  phenomena,  with  new  eyes.*  The  fact  is, 
that  the  history  of  glaciers  is  the  history  of  diluvial  agency  in 
miniature.  The  object  of  Agassiz  is,  first  to  describe  the  minia- 
ture, and  then  to  enlarge  the  picture  till  it  reaches  around  the 
globe. 

The  glaciers  are  vast  masses  of  ice,  often  leagues  in  extent, 
formed  of  melting  and  freezing  snow,  which  are  sent  out  from  the 
summits  of  the  Alps  by  the  force  of  expansion  into  the  valleys 
below,  often  to  the  distance  of  twelve  or  fifteen  miles.  Those 
elevated  and  wide  plateaux,  called  in  Switzerland  Mers  de  Glace, 
exhibiting  only  one  thick  sheet  of  ice,  through  which  the  crests 
and  summits  of  the  mountains  sometimes  rise  like  volcanoes,  are 
the  grand  source  or  birthplace,  of  the  glaciers.  In  their  descent 
they  plough  their  way  through  the  soil,  pile  up  pebbles  and  sand 
along  their  sides  and  at  their  extremities,  and  even  upon  their 
backs  j  which,  upon  the  retreat,  or  melting  of  the  glacier,  consti- 
tute moraines,  and  correspond  exactly  in  composition  and  shape 
to  those  accumulations  of  gravel  and  bowlders  that  have  been  as- 
cribed to  diluvial  action.  The  stones  and  sand  frozen  into  their 
lower  surface,  also,  like  so  many  fixed  diamonds,  smooth  and  fur- 
row the  surface  of  the  rocks  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  they 

*  I  trust  that  the  members  of  the  Association  will  pardon  me  for  having  made 
some  alterations  in  the  form,  though  not  in  the  leading  thoughts,  of  this  part  of 
my  Address,  since  it  was  delivered.  They  will  recollect,  that  while  I  expressed  a 
very  favorable  opinion  of  the  Glacial  Theory,  so  far  as  I  understood  it,  I  stated  that 
I  had  not  seen  the  work  of  Agassiz  named  in  the  text.  Through  the  kindness  of 
Prof.  Silliman,  I  have  since  been  favored  with  the  perusal  of  the  copy  of  this 
work  which,  with  its  splendid  alpine  illustrations,  he  received  from  the  author.  I 
am  indebted,  also,  to  Dr.  J.  Pye  Smith,  of  London,  for  an  abstract  of  the  papers  of 
Agassiz,  Buckland  and  Lyell,  read  before  the  London  Geological  Society  last  au- 
tumn, on  the  ancient  glaciers  of  Scotland  and  England.  A  flood  of  light  having 
thus  been  unexpectedly  thrown  in  upon  my  mind,  I  am  free  to  acknowledge  that 
many  of  my  difficulties  in  respect  to  this  theory  have  1  oen  removed,  and  that  the 
great  mass  6f  evidence  in  its  favor,  thus  brought  before  me,  has  led  me  to  express 
a  warmer  admiration  of  its  leading  features  and  a  greater  readiness  to  adopt  its  lead- 
ing principles,  although  satisfied  that  it  will  need  important  modifications. 


25 

are  abraded  overall  northern  countries.  Vast  blocks  of  stone  are 
likewise  conveyed  without  abrasion,  by  the  advance  of  the  gla- 
ciers, and  lodged  in  peculiar  situations. 

From  year  to  year,  the  evidence  has  been  increasing,  of  the 
prevalence  of  intense  cold  in  northern  regions  in  the  period  im- 
mediately preceding  the  historic.  The  elephants  and  rhinoceros 
found,  undecayed,  in  the  frozen  mud  of  Siberia,  the  arctic  charac- 
ter of  the  few  organic  remains  found  in  the  post-tertiary  strata  of 
Scotland  arid  Canada,  and  described  by  Lyell  and  Bowman,  and 
of  the  borders  of  Lake  Champlain,  as  described  by  Emmons 
and  Conrad ;  and  the  great  extension  of  the  ancient  moraines  in 
the  Alps,  are  the  evidence  from  which  Agassiz  infers  that  in  that 
period,  all  northern  countries  were  covered  with  a  vast  sheet  of  ice, 
filling  the  valleys  and  extending  southerly  as  far  as  diluvial  phe- 
nomena have  been  observed.  Glaciers  would  then  be  formed  on 
mountains  of  moderate  altitude  ;  and,  indeed,  he  supposes  that 
all  the  northern  parts  of  the  globe  might  have  constituted  one 
vast  Mer  de  Glace,  which  sent  out  its  enormous  glaciers  to  the 
south  ;  thus  giving  the  same  direction  to  the  drift  and  the  striae 
on  the  rocks.  As  these  vast  masses  of  ice  melted  away,  when 
the  temperature  was  raised,  immense  currents  of  water  were 
the  result,  which  would  lift  up  and  bear  away  huge  icebergs, 
whereby  extensive  erosions  would  be  produced,  and  blocks  of 
stone  be  transported  to  great  distances.  Subsequently,  lakes 
would  be  formed  where  moraines  had  produced  barriers,  clay  and 
sand  would  there  be  quietly  deposited,  and  the  waters  be  ulti- 
mately drained, by  the  wearing  down  of  the  barriers  of  detritus. 

It  is  doing  injustice  to  this  theory  to  attempt  so  brief  a  descrip- 
tion of  it.  A  detailed  account  of  existing  glaciers,  which  cannot 
here  be  given,  forms  the  best  preparation  for  a  just  appreciation  of 
the  theory.  Admitting  its  truth  in  the  main,  let  us  see  how  it 
applies  to  the  phenomena  of  drift  in  this  country. 

In  the  first  place,  it  explains  satisfactorily,  the  origin  of  those 
singular  accumulations  of  gravel  and  bowlders,  which  we  meet 
with,  almost  every  where,  in  the  northern  parts  of  our  country.  I 
cannot  doubt  that  these  are  ancient  moraines ;  just  such  as  exist 
in  Scotland  and  England.  Were  this  the  proper  place,  I  could 
point  out  a  multitude  of  localities  of  these,  most  of  which  have 
been  a  good  deal  modified  by  subsequent  aqueous  agency ;  but 
some  of  them  retain  the  very  contour  which  they  had  as  the 

4 


26 

ice  melted  away.*  The  lateral  moraines  are  perhaps  most  com- 
mon, especially  if,  with  Dr.  Buckland,  we  regard  our  terraced  val- 
leys as  modifications  of  these ;  but  I  am  confident  that  in  our 
mountain  valleys,  the  terminal  and  the  medial  moraine  are  not 
infrequent.  I  have  long  been  convinced  that  the  agency  of  ice 
was  essential  to  explain  these  accumulations ;  but  I  was  not  aware 
that  their  antitypes  existed  in  the  moraines  of  the  Alps. 

In  the  second  place,  this  theory  explains  in  a  most  satisfactory 
manner,  the  smoothing,  polishing  and  furrowing  of  the  rocks  at 
different  altitudes.  All  these  effects  are  perfectly  produced  be- 
neath the  glaciers  in  the  Alps;  nor  can  I  conceive  of  any  other 
agent  by  which  the  work  could  be  executed.  It  certainly  was 
not  done  by  currents  of  water  alone.  One  has  only  to  cast  his 
eye  upon  the  splendid  plates  by  Agassiz,  of  the  polish  and  sti-ire 
produced  by  the  glaciers,  to  be  satisfied  that  the  multitudes  of 
examples  of  analogous  phenomena  in  New  England,  and  in  New 
York  and  Ohio,  as  described  by  Profs.  Dewey,  Emmons,  and 
Locke,  and  Dr.  Hayes,  are  precisely  identical  with  those  in  the 
Alps. 

In  the  third  place,  it  explains  the  transportation  of  bowlders, 
and  their  lodgment  upon  the  crests  and  narrow  summits  of  moun- 
tains, and  that  often  without  having  their  angles  rounded. 

In  the  fourth  place,  it  accounts  for  the  occurrence  of  deposits 
of  clay  and  sand  above  the  drift.  For  it  furnishes  the  requisite 
quantity  of  water  to  fill  the  valleys,  and  the  means  of  damming 
up  their  outlets  for  a  season. 

In  the  fifth  place,  it  shows  us  why  these  deposits  of  clay  and 
sand  are  almost  completely  destitute  of  organic  remains,  either  of 
animals  or  plants,  although  probably  centuries  must  have  been 
consumed  in  their  formation. 

In  the  sixth  place,  it  accounts  for  some  rare  and  peculiar  phe- 
nomena connected  with  diluvial  action,  which  seem  to  me  inex- 
plicable on  any  other  known  principle.  I  shall  name  only  two. 
The  first  is,  that  the  northern  slopes  of  some  of  the  mountains 
of  New  England,  although  quite  steep,  and  their  summits 
rounded,  exhibit  strias  and  furrows  which  commence  several 

*  Descriptions  of  some  of  these  with  sketches,  will  be  found  in  my  Report  on 
the  Geology  of  Massachusetts,  published  in  1833:  but  more  numerous  descriptions 
and  drawings  are  given  in  the  Final  Report  just  published.  See  especially  Figs. 
15,  19,  73  and  74,  of  the  wood  cuts,  and  plate  3  of  the  lithographs. 


27 

hundred  feet  below  their  tops,  and  pass  over  them  without  los- 
ing their  parallelism ;  and  yet  the  situation  of  the  drift  shows 
that  these  markings  were  made  by  an  ascending  and  not  a  de- 
scending body.  Such  might  be  the  effect,  if  the  whole  surface 
of  the  country  were  covered  by  a  thick  sheet  of  ice  expanding  in 
a  southerly  direction. 

Of  the  other  case,  I  have  met  with  two  examples  in  New 
England,  and  know  not  that  they  have  been  noticed  elsewhere. 
In  these  cases,  the  perpendicular  layers  of  agillaceous  and  horn- 
blende slate,  covered  in  one  place,  by  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  of 
drift,  have  been  fractured  to  the  depth  of  ten  to  fifteen  feet,  so  as 
to  be  more  or  less  separated,  producing  horizontal  fissures,  which 
are  filled  by  mud,  while  the  laminse  are  inclined,  at  various  angles. 
In  short,  it  seems  as  if  an  almost  incredible  force  had  been  exer- 
ted upon  the  surface  in  an  oblique  direction.  Such  a  force  might 
be  exerted  by  an  immense  mass  of  ice  in  the  process  of  expan- 
sion ;  but  I  know  of  no  other  source  from  which  it  could  have 
been  derived.* 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  features  in  the  phenomena  of  di- 
luvial action  in  this  country,  which  are  explained  by  this  theory 
in  a  much  less  satisfactory  manner.  One  is  the  southerly  direc- 
tion which  our  drift  has  taken,  and  the  great  distance  to  which  it 
has  been  carried.  It  cannot  be  conceived  that  any  single  glacier 
should  have  expanded  several  hundred  miles  in  a  southerly  direc- 
tion, especially  over  a  surface  which  could  have  had  scarcely  any 
southerly  slope.  Even  if  we  admit  a  Mer  de  Glace  in  the  north- 
ern regions  so  lofty  as,  in  the  beginning  of  the  work,  to  send  gla- 
ciers a  vast  distance,  yet  the  force  seems  to  have  continued  to 
operate  in  the  same  austral  direction,  even  to  the  bottom  of  our 
valleys.  It  is,  however,  probably  true,  that  the  great  mass  of  our 
drift  will  be  found  within  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from  its  original 
place ;  and  that  which  occurs  at  greater  distances,  may  perhaps, 
have  been  transported  by  powerful  currents  of  water.  It  is  al- 
most certain  that  the  sheet  of  ice  which  covered  the  surface,  ac- 
cording to  this  theory,  must  have  been  at  least  three  thousand  or 
four  thousand  feet  thick,  because  our  mountains  have  been  to  that 
height,  swept  over.  Now  if,  as  Agassiz  and  others  suppose, 
the  fall  of  temperature,  at  the  beginning  of  the  glacial  period,  was 

*  Descriptions  and  sketches  of  these  cases  are  given  in  the  Final  Report  on  the 
Geology  of  Massachusetts,  Vol.  ii,  p.  396  and  559. 


28 

very  sudden,  why  may  not  the  return  of  the  heat  have  been 
equally  sudden  ?  If  so,  the  most  powerful  debacles  must  have 
been  the  result  ;*  and  as  the  ice  would  disappear  most  rapidly 
along  its  southern  border,  perhaps  in  this  way  a  current  in  that 
direction  may  have  been  produced.  And  yet,  I  confess  that  I  re- 
gard this  theory  more  defective  in  not  furnishing  an  adequate  cause 
for  the  southerly  course  of  our  drift,  than  in  any  other  point. 

I  find  another  difficulty  in  explaining  satisfactorily  by  this  the- 
ory, how  drift  could  have  been  often  carried  fro'm  lower  to  much 
higher  levels ;  as  it  has  been  sometimes  if  I  am  not  greatly 
mistaken.  Thus,  the  Silurian  rocks  of  New  York,  and  the 
quartz  rock  in  the  valleys  of  western  Massachusetts,  have  been 
carried  over,  and  left  upon,  Hoosac  and  Taconic  mountains  and 
the  Highlands  of  New  York.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  how  an  im- 
mense sheet  of  ice,  by  its  expansive  power,  should  force  portions 
of  its  mass  to  ascend  moderate  declivities,  of  a  few  hundred  feet, 
but  not  so  easy  to  imagine  them  thus  forced  upwards  one  thou- 
sand or  two  thousand  feet,  as  they  undoubtedly  have  been  in  New 
England.f 

Another  difficulty  results  from  the  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  our  moraines  are  found,  not  in  valleys,  but  on  the 
sea  coast,  some  of  them  fifty,  and  others  one  hundred  miles  dis- 
tant from  any  mountains  much  higher  than  themselves.  I  refer 
to  tttose  remarkable  conical  and  oblong  tumuli  of  drift,  sometimes 


*  A  curious  example  illustrative  of  this  point  has  just  been  communicated  to 
me  by  Rev.  Justin  Perkins,  American  missionary  in  Persia,  not  far  from  Mt.  Ar- 
arat, in  a  letter  dated  at  Ooromiah,  Nov.  6th,  1840.  In  giving  an  account  of  two 
very  powerful  earthquakes  experienced  on  and  around  that  mountain  in  the  sum- 
mer of  last  year,  he  says,  "  The  vast  accumulation  of  snow  which  had  been  in- 
creasing on  and  about  the  top  of  the  mountain  for  so  many  centuries,  was  broken 
into  pieces,  and  parts  of  it  shaken  down  on  the  sides  of,  the  mountain  in  such  im- 
mense quantities,  that  (it  being  midsummer,  and  the  snow  descending  down  as  far 
as  a  warm  climate,  and  suddenly  melting,)  torrents  of  water  came  rolling  down 
the  remainder  of  the  mountain,  and  flooded  the  plain  for  some  distance  around  its 
base." 

t  In  the  north  of  Europe,  also,  the  drift  has  been  carried  "  from  lower  to  higher 
levels,"  according  to  Mr.  Murchison  ;  and  he  imputes  the  strias  to  "  icefloes  and 
detritus,  set  in  motion  by  the  elevation  of  continental  masses,  and  grating  upon 
the  bottom  of  a  sea."  On  the  Geological  Structure  of  Northern  and  Central  Russia, 
&c.,  by  Murchison  and  Verneuil,  p.  13.  London,  1841,  pp.  16.  Very  likely  the  Gla- 
cier Theory  may  need  some  analogous  modification  to  adapt  it  to  this  country; 
and  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  expanding  ice  is  a  far  more  powerful  agent  to  force 
detritus  up  an  inclined  plane,  than  currents  of  water. 


29 

more  than  two  hundred  feet  high,  which  occur  in  Plymouth  and 
Barnstable  counties  in  Massachusetts.  I  see  nothing  in  this  the- 
ory that  will  explain  such  astonishing  accumulations  in  such  cir- 
cumstances ;  and  yet  their  existence  may  not  militate  against  its 
truth.  For  even  the  present  mighty  glaciers  of  the  Alps,  may 
give  us  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  effects  of  the  advance  and  retreat 
of  a  sheet  of  ice  thousands  of  feet  thick.  We  have  no  evidence 
in  this  country,  that  any  of  our  mountains  have  been  elevated 
since  the  glacial  epoch  ;  as  seems  to  be  proved  to  have  been  the 
case  with  the  Alps,  and  this  circumstance  may  have  produced  a 
considerable  modification  of  glacial  action  on  this  continent. 

I  do  not  mention  these  difficulties  (to  which  I  might  add  more,) 
as  any  strong  evidence  against  this  theory.  For  so  remarkably 
does  it  solve  most  of  the  phenomena  of  diluvial  action,  that  I  am 
constrained  to  believe  its  fundamental  principles  to  be  founded  in 
truth.  Modifications  it  may  require :  for  it  would  be  strange 
enough  if  it  had  already  attained  perfection,  even  in  the  skillful 
hands  that  have  thus  far  framed  and  fashioned  it.  But  I  can 
hardly  doubt  that  glacio-aqueous  action*  has  been  the  controlling 
power  in  producing  the  phenomena  of  drift.  Having  hovered  so 
long  over  the  shoreless  and  troubled  ocean  of  uncertainty  and 
doubt,  I  may  be  too  ready  to  alight  on  what  looks  like  terra  firrna. 
But  should  it  prove  a  Delos,  I  have  only  to  plume  my  wings 
again,  when  it  sinks  beneath  the  waves. 

I  have  dwelt  long  on  this  subject;  its  great  importance,  its  in- 
teresting aspect  at  this  time,  and  its  wide  developement  in  our 
country,  must  plead  my  apology. 

In  referring  to  our  alluvial  formations  I  shall  call  your  atten- 
tion only  to  a  single  subject,  and  that  is,  microscopic  paleon- 
tology. The  splendid  discoveries  of  Ehrenberg  in  this  depart- 
ment, were  yet  fresh  among  us,  when  Prof.  Bailey  demonstra- 
ted that  similar  relics  abound  in  this  country.  They  form  ex- 
tensive deposits,  covering  many  acres,  and  sometimes  several 
feet  thick,  beneath  our  peat-bogs.  The  substance  appears  to  be 
the  Bergmeld,  or  mountain  meal,  or  fossil  farina,  of  the  Germans, 
and  is  mostly  composed  of  the  Shields  or  Carapaces  of  the  family 
Baccillaria.  Some  do,  indeed,  yet  doubt  the  animal  origin  of 

*  By  which  I  mean  the  joint  action  of  ice  and  water,  without  deciding  which 
has  exerted  the  greatest  influence. 


30 

this  family ;  but  the  weight  of  opinion  seems  to  be  on  the  other 
side.  Hitherto  I  believe,  in  this  country,  these  relics  have  been 
found  only  in  primitive  regions  ;  but  as  it  is  not  always  the  case 
in  Europe,  (Am.  Journal  of  Science,  Vol.  XL,  p.  177,)  we  may 
believe  it  is  not  so  here.  Over  the  primary  regions  they  have 
been  found  from  Maine  to  Wisconsin,  and  south  to  Virginia.  So 
numerous  are  the  localities,  that  in  New  England  at  least,  I  am 
confident  they  may  be  found  in  nearly  every  town  based  on  pri- 
mary rocks.  The  report  on  the  geology  of  Massachusetts  is  en- 
riched with  a  valuable  paper  on  the  fossil  infusoria  of  that  state, 
by  Prof.  Bailey ;  and  a  memoir  on  the  same  subject,  embracing 
the  whole  of  the  United  States,  may  soon  be  expected  from  that 
gentleman.  It  will  give  some  idea  of  the  wide  field  which  the 
microscope  has  opened  to  palaeontology  in  this  country,  to  state, 
that  in  a  single  specimen  of  fossil  farina  from  West  Point,  Ehren- 
berg  has  detected  fourteen  species  of  siliceous  infusoria.  Besides, 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  our  iron  ores  and  other  deposits  in 
addition  to  the  Bergmehl,  will  afford  these  remains. 

These  remarks  receive  strong  confirmation  from  the  interesting 
discovery  by  Prof.  W.  B.  Rogers,  in  the  tertiary  strata  of  Virginia, 
as  announced  in  his  Geological  Report  of  1841.  of  a  deposit  of 
these  infusoria.  It  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  their  siliceous 
shields,  occupies  areas  of  considerable  extent,  sometimes  attains 
the  enormous  thickness  of  twenty  five  feet,  and  is  rarely  less 
than  twelve  feet  thick.  If  such  is  the  beginning,  what,  gen- 
tlemen, will  be  the  end  of  this  infinitesimal  geology !  We 
seem  fast  advancing  towards  a  realization  of  the  proverb,  omnis 
calx  e  vermibus,  omnis  silex  e  vermibus,  omneferrum  e  vermibus. 

Having  thus  ascended  to  the  top  of  the  scale  of  American 
rocks,  and  briefly  shown  how  far  their  characters  have  been 
fixed,  and  their  equivalence  to  European  strata  demonstrated,  a 
few  miscellaneous  topics  only  remain  for  examination. 

One  of  these  subjects  is  that  of  concretions.  And  it  seems  to 
me  that  it  needs  to  have  light  thrown  upon  it  as  much  as  any  in 
the  whole  range  of  mineralogy  and  geology.  It  needs  a  second 
Haiiy  to  develop  the  fundamental  principles  of  concretionary 
structure.  Brongniart,  De  la  Beche.  and  Fitton,  have,  indeed, 
thrown  out  many  valuable  hints  on  the  subject,  and  rendered  it 
probable  that  concretions  result  from  segregation  by  means  of 
elective  affinity.  But  why  the  particles  should  arrange  them- 


31 

selves  in  curved  rather  than  straight  laminae,  and  why  the  curves 
should  differ  from  one  another,  does  not  appear.  The  siliceous 
limestone  of  Fontainbleau  contains  more  sand  than  the  calcare- 
ous concretions  of  this  country,  called  claystones ;  and  yet  the 
former  assumes  a  polyhedral  and  the  latter  a  spheroidal  form. 

These  claystone  concretions,  which  abound  in  our  diluvial 
clays,  seems  to  me  to  afford  a  better  opportunity  than  any  other 
for  studying  this  subject.  They  appear  to  consist  of  the  clay 
containing  them,  cemented  by  carbonate  of  lime,  which  usually 
forms  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  mass  ;  although  I  doubt  whether 
it  exists  in  definite  proportion.  I  have  found  in  them,  also,  both 
in  those  of  New  England  and  in  specimens  from  the  diluvial 
clay  of  Sweden,  a  small  amount  of  organic  matter,  very  prob- 
ably resulting  from  the  crenic  acid,  which  existed  in  the  water 
when  the  clay  was  deposited.  I  am  informed,  however,  by  Dr. 
Tamriau,  of  Prussia,  that  "  the  Swedish  scientific  men  believe 
these  claystones  to  be  something  of  organic  remains : — some 
sort  of  mollusca,  which  were  more  or  less  wrapped  in  a  man- 
tle." But  even  if  we  admit  that  some  soft  animal  formed  the 
nucleus,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  claystones  have  as- 
sumed their  present  forms  as  the  result  of  a  concretionary  agen- 
cy. Those  forms  are  often  so  very  regular,  and  furnish  such 
mimic  representations  of  numerous  artificial  objects,  that  we  need 
not  wonder  they  should  be  regarded,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
England,  as  the  work  of  art ;  that  among  us,  they  should  be  im- 
puted to  the  ingenuity  of  the  aborigines;  arid  in  England,  be 
supposed  to  have  been  turned  in  a  lathe,  as  a  substitute  for  me- 
tallic coin,  and  have  taken  the  name  of  Kimmeridge  coal  money. 

An  examination  of  numerous  specimens  from  New  England, 
has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  certain  predominant  forms  may 
be  discovered,  which  they  affect ;  although  between  them  are 
numerous  intermediate  varieties ;  and  sometimes  there  would 
seem  to  have  been  a  struggle  between  two  of  these  forms  for  the 
mastery.  These  predominant  forms  are  the  sphere,  the  oblate 
spheroid,  the  prolate  spheroid,  the  annulated,  the  lenticular,  and 
the  cylindrical.  The  first  is  the  most  important,  though  least 
common;  and  perhaps  all  the  others  may  be  conceived  to  result 
from  it.  I  think,  also,  that  if  we  may  suppose  the  clay  to  have 
been  in  a  plastic  and  not  a  fluid  state,  so  as  to  admit  of  the  per- 
meation of  carbonate  of  lime  in  a  state  of  solution,  and  that  differ- 


32 

ent  centres  of  attraction  existed  in  the  clay,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
conceive  how  all  the  varieties  of  form  assumed  by  the  concre- 
tions, may  have  been  produced  by  a  modification  of  circumstan- 
ces. I  find,  that  as  in  crystals  of  minerals,  certain  forms  predom- 
inate at  particular  localities,  so  it  is  with  the  claystones.  And 
finally,  I  am  led  by  all  the  facts  to  the  conclusion,  that  these  con- 
'  cretions  are  produced  by  laws  as  fixed  and  definite  as  those  of 
crystallography.  To  discover  and  develop  these  laws,  therefore, 
must  be  an  object  of  great  interest. 

There  is  another  interesting  concretion  in  the  same  diluvial 
clay,  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  consisting  generally  of  concen- 
tric alternating  layers  of  clay  or  loam,  and  the  same  material  more 
or  less  colored  and  consolidated  by  the  hydrate  of  iron.  The  axis 
consists  usually  of  the  root  of  a  vegetable,  or  some  other  organic 
body.  Portions  of  the  same  clay  are  sometimes  crossed  by  par- 
allel divisional  planes,  so  as  to  produce  rhomboidal  prisms,  pre- 
cisely like  those  in  the  older  consolidated  rocks,  which  have  usu- 
ally been  referred  to  the  agency  of  heat.  But  this  clay  can, 
probably,  never  have  been  even  sun-dried ;  and,  therefore,  we 
must  resort  to  some  other  explanation  of  this  jointed  structure. 
And  since  the  experiment  of  Mr.  Robert  Weare  Pox  upon  the  in- 
fluence of  galvanism  upon  clay,  I  can  hardly  doubt  but  this  agen- 
cy might  have  produced  it,  and  also  the  ferruginous  concretions 
that  have  been  described,  and  perhaps  have  aided  in  forming  the 
claystones.  But  to  settle  these  points  will  require  numerous  ob- 
servations and  experiments ;  and  my  chief  object  in  these  re- 
marks is  to  show  that  this  is  a  promising,  though  long  neglected 
field  of  research. 

It  is  expected  in  many  of  the  state  surveys,  that  particular  at- 
tention will  be  given  to  the  connection  between  geology  and  ag- 
riculture. To  do  this,  the  geologist  is  obliged  to  call  in  the  aid 
of  organic  and  analytical  chemistry ;  obviously  the  most  difficult 
branches  of  that  most  useful  science.  Hence  the  analysis  of 
soils,  of  the  plants  which  they  produce,  and  of  the  various  fertili- 
zers which  are  applied  by  the  farmer,  as  well  as  of  the  rocks 
whose  disintegration  produces  the  soil,  ought  to  form  the  objects 
of  a  commission  distinct  from  that  of  ordinary  geology  :  and  I 
hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant,  when  such  an  office  will  exist  in 
all  the  states  of  the  union.  For  although  we  ought  not  to  look 
for  striking  benefits  from  such  a  work  so  soon  as  from  a  geologi- 


33 

cal  survey,  yet,  with  sufficient  time  given  to  a  geological  chem- 
ist, there  can  be  no  doubt  but  most  valuable  ultimate  results 
would  follow  his  labors. 

Although  the  science  of  agricultural  chemistry  had  a  vigorous 
commencement  in  the  labors  of  Davy  and  Chaptal,  yet  its  subse- 
quent progress  has  not  been  correspondently  rapid  j  and  it  must 
yet  be  regarded  as  in  its  infancy.  Hence  too  much  has  been  ex- 
pected from  the  analyses  of  soils  in  our  country,  and  a  conse- 
quent disappointment  has  been  felt.  Distinguished  chemists  are 
not  yet  agreed  in  respect  to  some  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  science.  The  recent  able  work  by  Prof.  Liebig  on  organic 
chemistry,  affords  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  in  the  nu- 
merous new  views  which  it  presents,  and  which  he  declares  to  be 
different  from  those  usually  maintained.  Many  of  these  views 
will  be  adopted  at  once,  as  original  discoveries  ;  but  in  regard  to 
others,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  chemists  will  receive  them 
without  discussion.  With  Raspail  he  maintains,  that  plants  are 
nourished  solely  by  the  absorption  of  carbonic  acid  from  the  at- 
mosphere and  from  soil ;  whereas,  the  prevailing  opinion  is,  that 
they  derive  their  support  partly  from  carbonic  acid  and  partly  by 
the  direct  imbibition  of  organic  matter  in  some  of  the  forms  of 
humus,  by  their  roots.  He  supposes  that  the  humus  acts  no 
other  part  than  to  furnish  carbonic  acid  by  its  decomposition. 
Others  maintain  that  some  of  it  is  taken  up  in  a  state  of  solution, 
by  capillary  attraction,  or  by  galvanic  action.  And  as  all  chem- 
ists were  not  convinced  by  the  arguments  of  Raspail,  they  may 
not  be  satisfied  with  the  more  able  reasoning  of  Liebig,  on  the 
same  subject.  His  views  of  the  agency  of  nitrogen  in  vegetable 
nutrition, — his  discovery  of  ammonia  in  the  atmosphere,  and  his 
many  new  views  respecting  the  agency  of  salts  upon  vegetation, 
and  on  other  subjects,  will  render  this  work  a  most  valuable  ad- 
dition to  agricultural  chemistry. 

The  earlier  agricultural  chemists  laid  by  far  too  much  stress 
upon  the  mineral  constitution  of  soils,  and  disposed  of  the  organic 
matter  by  one  simple  act  of  combustion.  But  more  recent  exper- 
imenters have  found,  that  the  composition  and  condition  of  the  or- 
ganic matter  are  of  the  highest  importance  in  relation  to  vegeta- 
tion, and  they  have  made  great  efforts  to  ascertain  the  true 
character  of  mould  or  humus.  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  it 
is  composed  of  several  distinct  compounds.  But,  in  determin- 


34 

ing  their  nature  we  find,  as  we  might  expect,  that  distinguished 
chemists  differ  somewhat  in  their  conclusions.  Berzelius  in- 
cludes all  the  organic  matter  of  soils  under  the  term  humus.  In 
this  he  supposes  that  he  finds  crenic,  apocrenic,  and  humic  acids, 
with  extract  of  humus  and  humin.  This  was  his  view  of  the 
subject,  if  I  understood  it,  in  1840 ;  and  it  does  not  differ  from 
his  views  seven  years  before,  except  in  substituting  recently  the 
term  humic  acid  for  geine,  and  humin  for  carbonaceous  mould. 
In  this  country,  Dr.  S.  L.  Dana  employs  the  term  geine  in  two 
senses.  When  he  speaks  agriculturally,  he  means  by  it  "all 
the  decomposed  organic  matter  of  the  soil,"  which  he  divides 
into  the  soluble  and  insoluble  j  and  in  this  sense  he  regards  cre- 
nic and  apocrenic  acids,  humin  and  extract  of  humin,  as  forms  of 
geine.  When  he  speaks  chemically,  he  regards  geine  as  a  distinct 
compound,  the  same  in  composition  as  the  substance  denominated 
geine  by  Berzelius  in  1833,  and  humic  acid  in  1840;  although 
he  supposes  the  humin  and  carbonaceous  mould  of  the  same  chem- 
ist to  be  identical  with  humic  acid,  and  of  course  only  varieties 
of  geine.  Dr.  Jackson,  however,  contends  that  geine  is  not  a  dis- 
tinct compound,  and  that  it  is  essentially  composed  of  crenic  and 
apocrenic  acids.  I  mention  these  facts,  not  with  a  view  to  enter 
at  all  in  this  place,  into  the  discussion  of  these  points,  but  merely 
to  call  the  attention  of  gentlemen  to  them  as  matters  of  great  in- 
terest. I  am  too  well  acquainted  with  the  gentlemen  who  have 
adopted  different  views  on  these  subjects,  not  to  believe  that  they 
will  thankfully  accept  of  light  from  any  quarter,  and  consider  it 
an  honor,  rather  than  a  disgrace,  to  give  up  opinions  which  exper- 
iment or  sound  argument  shows  to  be  untenable.  For  they  well 
know,  that  in  a  progressive  science,  like  agricultural  chemistry, 
the  honor  of  original  discovery  belongs  to  him  who  makes  an  ad- 
vance upon  his  predecessors ;  nor  can  it  pluck  the  laurel  from  his 
brow,  although  others  aided  by  his  labors,  should  subsequently  go 
beyond  him.  In  the  present  case  it  may  be  thought,  that  rules 
for  the  analysis  of  soils,  founded  upon  different  views  of  the  char- 
acter of  their  organic  matter,  must  be  useless.  But  I  must  ex- 
press the  opinion,  that  the  agricultural  value  of  analyses,  conduct- 
ed according  to  these  conflicting  views,  cannot  be  very  different ; 
and  in  a  scientific  respect,  in  the  present  state  of  agricultural 
chemistry,  analyses  performed  in  different  modes  must  be  an  im- 
portant means  of  arriving  ultimately  at  the  truth. 


35 

The  remarkable  fertilizing  power  of  green  sand,  first  discov- 
ered in  this  country,  has  raised  another  question  in  agricul- 
tural chemistry,  of  great  practical  interest,  concerning  which, 
there  is  not  so  much  of  an  opposition,  as  of  an  unsettled  state  of 
opinion.  The  question  is,  which  of  the  ingredients  of  this  sub- 
stance produce  the  fertilization.  Ail  will  agree,  probably,  that 
the  potassa  found  in  some  green  sand,  acts  an  important  part.  But 
if  this  is  the  only  ingredient,  then  the  green  sands  of  New  Eng- 
land and  old  England,  will  be  of  no  agricultural  value,  as  they  are 
destitute  of  potassa.  But  others  suppose  that  the  iron  exerts  a 
favorable  influence ;  and  others,  that  the  minutely  divided  state 
of  the  silica  is  important ;  as  it  seems  to  be  in  the  Bergmehl, 
which  is  also  useful  in  agriculture.  But  I  have  time  only  to  ex- 
press the  confident  expectation,  that  some  of  the  gentlemen  who 
hear  me,  will,  ere  many  years,  clear  up  this  subject. 

Had  not  these  subjects  been  so  intimately  connected  with  sev- 
eral of  the  state  surveys,  they  might  seem  irrelevant  on  this  occa- 
sion. I  return,  therefore,  to  one  more  appropriately  geological. 

But  little  has  yet  been  published  respecting  the  anticlinal  and 
synclinal  axes  and  their  correspondent  systems  of  strata  in  our 
country ;  although  I  doubt  not  that  numerous  facts  on  the  subject 
are  in  the  note-books  of  our  geologists,  in  respect  to  the  particu- 
lar sections  of  country  which  they  have  examined.  But  this  is 
one  of  those  subjects  upon  which,  as  upon  diluvial  action,  gene- 
ral results,  applicable  to  the  whole  country,  can  be  made  out  only 
after  long  examination  ;  it  is  one,  therefore,  peculiarly  proper  for 
such  an  association  as  I  now  address ; — and  I  predict,  that  when 
the  facts  from  different  parts  of  this  continent  are  collated  and 
compared,  it  will  be  found  that  we  have  some  of  the  most  re- 
markable and  magnificent  systems  of  elevation  and  depression 
on  the  globe.  There  is  no  small  reason  to  believe,  indeed,  that 
on  the  western  side  of  this  continent,  from  Cape  Horn  to  the 
northern  Arctic  Ocean,  one  vast  anticlinal  axis  exists,  along  the 
crest  of  the  Andes  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Subordinate  and 
perhaps  intersecting  systems  of  strata  will  undoubtedly  be  found 
along  this  extended  line  ;  but  this  appears  to  be  the  great  con- 
trolling and  probably  the  most  recent  uplift  on  the  continent. 
The  occurrence  of  volcanic  vents  along  the  whole  line,  while 
they  do  not  exist  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  continent,  renders  it 
probable  that  the  former  has  been  upheaved  at  a  later  epoch  than 


36 

the  latter.  But  there  is  another  fact  that  makes  this  almost  cer- 
tain, or  it  shows  at  least,  that  the  western,  and  particularly  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  continent,  has  been  raised  to  a  much 
greater  height  than  the  eastern  side.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
cretaceous  formation  of  North  America  passes  under  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  near  New  York,  with  its  superincumbent  tertiary  strata. 
The  latter  reappear  on  Long  Island,  arid  in  great  distinctness 
on  Martha's  Vineyard,  near  the  coast  of  Massachusetts,  beyond 
which  they  are  no  more  seen  south  of  Greenland.  But  as  we 
go  southwesterly  from  New  York,  the  chalk  formation  gradually 
rises,  and  between  Council  Bluff  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  as  I 
am  informed  by  Mr.  Nicollet,  it  sometimes  reaches  the  height  of 
two  thousand  feet,  which  is  much  higher  than  on  the  Atlantic 
coast.  It  appears,  also,  from  the  recent  memoir  of  Von  Buch, 
on  the  petrifactions  of  South  America,  that  the  same  formation 
exists  extensively  developed  in  the  Andes,  from  10°  north  to  15° 
south  latitude.  It  there  attains  the  astonishing  height  of  thir- 
teen thousand  feet  above  the  ocean.  Subsequent  to  the  cretace- 
ous period,  therefore,  the  Andes  must  have  risen  to  that  height  ; 
while  the  coast  of  New  England  and  the  middle  states  has  been 
elevated  only  a  few  hundred  feet.  In  the  southern  states  the  up- 
lift appears  to  have  been  still  less. 

The  Appalachian  range  of  mountains  forms  another  anticlinal 
ridge,  extending  northeasterly  through  New  England,  and  not 
improbably  to  Labrador.  The  rise  of  this  chain  elevated  the 
cretaceous  and  tertiary  rocks  on  the  Atlantic  slope,  as  well  as  the 
new  red  sandstone,  and  tilted  up  the  southeastern  margin  of  the 
transition  rocks  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  uplift  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  raised  the  western  side  of  the  same  rocks, 
and  produced  the  easterly  slope  of  the  strata  extending  to  the 
Mississippi.  That  river,  therefore,  flows  through  a  synclinal  val- 
ley, and  it  was  the  existence  of  that  valley  which  determined  its 
course.  The  same  is  true  of  the  river  Ohio,  which,  according  to 
Dr.  Hildreth,  flows  through  a  synclinal  valley.  The  sections  given 
by  Prof.  Emmons,  show  that  the  same  is  true  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
From  the  last  report  of  Mr.  Houghton,  it  appears  that  Lake  Su- 
perior occupies  a  synclinal  valley,  and  not  improbably  a  valley 
of  elevation.  East  of  Little  Falls,  according  to  Mr.  Conrad,  the 
Mohawk  flows  many  miles  through  a  valley  of  depression.  In 
New  England,  the  primary  strata  dip  towards  the  Connecticut 


37 

river  on  both  sides,  at  least  through  a  considerable  part  of  its 
course  ;  and  there  is  evidence,  also,  that  an  extensive  fault  in  the 
primary  rocks  runs  through  that  valley.  Prof.  Mather  describes 
"a  line  of  fracture  and  anticlinal  axis"  as  passing  a  little  west  of 
the  Hudson  river,  as  well  as  numerous  joints  and  fractures  in  the 
valley  of  the  Hudson,  which  not  improbably  may  be  a  valley  of 
dislocation.  Indeed,  I  doubt  not  that  in  most  of  those  cases 
where  rivers  have  found  their  way  through  gorges  of  lofty  and 
precipitous  ridges,  it  will  be  discovered  that  a  break  previously 
existed  in  the  strata.  To  give  an  example  : — the  great  western 
railroad,  leading  from  Boston  to  Buffalo,  and  destined,  ere  long,  to 
reach  St.  Louis,  and  ultimately  perhaps  the  Pacific  Ocean,  is  car- 
ried across  the  Hoosac  range  of  mountains  through  a  deep  cut 
made  across  the  ridges  by  Westfield  river  j  and  in  no  other  place, 
probably,  could  it  have  been  carried  through.  But  I  have  re- 
cently satisfied  myself  that  the  course  of  that  river  was  deter- 
mined for  a  considerable  distance,  at  least,  by  the  existence  of  a 
wide  fissure  in  the  primary  strata,  which  was  subsequently  filled 
in  part  by  an  enormous  vein  of  granite.  Is  not  this  a  beautiful 
example  of  prospective  benevolence  on  the  part  of  the  Deity, 
thus,  by  means  of  a  violent  fracture  of  primary  mountains,  to  pro- 
vide for  easy  intercommunication  through  alpine  regions,  count- 
less ages  afterwards ! 

These  slight  sketches  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  great  and 
striking  features  of  our  country  are  dependant  upon  a  few  extend- 
ed axes  of  elevation  and  depression  ;  and  that  probably  subordi- 
nate anticlinal  and  synclinal  lines  will  be  found  connected  with 
most  of  the  minor  features  of  our  surface.  To  trace  them  all 
out  will  be  a  great,  yet  most  interesting  work ;  as  it  will  be  to 
ascertain  the  systems  of  strata  connected  with  them.  Of  the 
latter,  we  have  in  New  England  no  less  than  five  or  six  distinctly 
marked.  They  are  all  of  them  of  ancient  date,  and  most  of  them 
very  ancient.  The  oldest,  which  may  be  called  the  oldest  meri- 
dional system,  because  it  runs  not  far  from  north  and  south,  is 
composed  chiefly  of  gneiss  and  mica  slate  \  and  crosses  Massa- 
chusetts near  its  centre,  including,  although  this  is  not  certain, 
probably  the  most  elevated  land  in  New  England.  The  second, 
which  I  call  the  northeast  and  southwest  system,  because  it  runs 
in  that  direction,  is  more  distinctly  marked  than  any  other ;  hav- 
ing a  high  and  uniform  northwesterly  dip.  It  corresponds  in 


38 

direction  with  that  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  probably 
forms  a  part  of  their  most  easterly  ranges.  It  extends,  also, 
through  almost  the  whole  of  Maine.  It  is  composed  chiefly  of 
primary  rocks.  The  third  system,  I  call  the  east  and  west  sys- 
tem. It  is  composed  of  primary  and  the  oldest  fossiliferous  rocks  ; 
having  a  northerly  dip.  It  occupies  no  great  space  in  New  Eng- 
land. But  perhaps  the  east  and  west  ridges  of  mountains  de- 
scribed by  Dr.  Houghton,  on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Superior, 
may  belong  to  the  same  system  ;  although  I  think  we  ought  to  be 
very  cautious  in  referring  the  rocks  of  widely  separated  regions 
to  the  same  system ;  especially  if  their  strike  is  merely  parallel, 
and  not  upon  the  same  continuous  line.  The  fourth  system  em- 
braces the  rocks  from  gneiss  upwards,  so  as  to  include  most  of  the 
clay  slate  and  Silurian  groups.  The  strata  have  a  perpendicular 
or  inverted  dip.  I  call  it  the  Hoosac  or  Green  mountain  system, 
because  it  embraces  most  of  those  mountains :  but  if  I  mistake 
not,  it  extends  through  the  whole  of  the  Appalachian  chain  of 
mountains,  and  possesses  some  remarkable  peculiarities,  to  which 
I  shall  shortly  call  your  attention.  The  fifth  system  embraces 
only  the  new  red  sandstone  and  its  associated  trap;  and  hence  it 
may  be  called  the  new  red  sandstone  system.  But  I  am  in  doubt 
whether  it  ought  not  to  be  embraced  in  the  fourth  system.  The 
sixth  system  I  call  the  northwest  and  southeast  system,  because 
such  is  its  strike,  with  a  small  northeasterly  dip.  It  occurs  in 
Rhode  Island,  the  southeast  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  southwest 
part  of  Maine  :  but  it  is  very  limited,  unless  it  should  be  found 
that  the  four  ranges  of  mountains,  described  by  Dr.  Richardson, 
in  the  extreme  northwesterly  part  of  this  continent,  belong  to  it. 
I  regard  it  as  the  most  recent  system  in  New  England ;  because, 
although  composed  of  gneiss  and  the  older  slates,  it  corresponds, 
in  strike  and  dip,  with  the  eocene  tertiary  on  Martha's  Vineyard  ; 
and  probably  both  were  elevated  at  the  same  time. 

The  whole  number  of  systems  of  strata,  corresponding  in  their 
general  strike  and  dip  in  this  country,  will  undoubtedly  be  found 
to  be  much  greater  than  those  now  described.  Nor  should  I  have 
mentioned  these,  which  have  been  observed  in  a  limited  district, 
had  I  not  great  confidence  in  the  uniformity  and  great  extent  of 
the  geological  features  of  this  country ;  so  that  if  we  find  a  par- 
ticular arrangement  in  one  district,  we  may  safely  presume  upon 
the  existence  of  its  counterpart  in  other  parts  of  the  land.  These 


39 

hints,  therefore,  may  afford  some  feeble  aid  in  the  great  work  of 
tracing  out  the  systems  of  elevation  that  exist  on  this  continent. 

I  have  alluded  to  some  peculiarities  in  the  Green  Mountain  sys- 
tem of  strata;  and  if  I  may  venture  a  little  longer  upon  your  pa- 
tience, I  will  ask  a  few  moments'  attention  to  what  I  must  regard 
as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  American  geology. 
Still,  I  have  so  imperfect  a  knowledge  of  the  subject,  as  to  be 
conscious  of  venturing  forward  with  few  landmarks  to  guide  me, 
into  an  almost  unknown  region.  I  am  aware,  also,  that  there 
are  gentlemen  before  me,  who  have  given  the  subject  more  atten- 
tion than  I  have,  and  who  are  perhaps  prepared  for  its  full  devel- 
opement. 

We  have  all  read  of  the  enormous  dislocations  and  inversions 
of  the  strata  of  the  Alps  ;  and  similar  phenomena  are  said  to  exist 
in  the  Andes.  Will  it  be  believed,  that  we  have  an  example  in 
the  United  States  on  a  still  more  magnificent  scale  than  any  yet 
described  ?  I  have  mentioned  in  another  connection,  a  series  of 
strata,  consisting  of  gneiss,  mica,  talcose,  and  argillaceous  slates, 
with  limestones  and  Silurian  rocks,  extending  from  Canada,  along 
the  western  side  of  New  England  and  the  eastern  side  of  New 
York,  to  the  Highlands  on  Hudson  river,  and  thence  southwes- 
terly through  the  Appalachian  mountains  as  far  as  Alabama ;  a 
distance  of  at  least  twelve  hundred  miles.  Along  a  large  part  of 
this  distance,  a  remarkable  apparent  inversion  of  the  dip  exhibits 
itself ;  so  that  the  newer  rocks  appear  to  pass  beneath  the  older 
ones  ;  and  that  too  over  a  great  width  of  surface.  Certainly  this 
is  the  case  from  Canada  to  New  Jersey,  and  thence  through 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  I  infer  from  the  reports  of  the  Profes- 
sors Rogers,  that  similar  phenomena  occur,  which  these  gentle- 
men have  been  studying  with  great  care  and  success ;  and  the 
results,  I  learn,  will  soon  be  given  to  the  public.  The  effects  of 
the  extraordinary  agency  under  consideration,  has  not  been  sim- 
ply to  toss  over  the  strata,  so  as  to  give  them  an  inverted  dip,  but 
in  general  to  produce  a  succession  of  folded  axes,  with  a  gentle 
slope  and  dip  on  their  eastern  sides,  and  a  high  dip,  or  more  fre- 
quently an  inverted  one,  on  their  western  side. 

Such  a  disturbance  as  this  would  be  far  less  remarkable,  were 
it  not  so  extensive.  I  cannot  describe  the  width  of  the  belt  that 
has  been  thus  plicated,  except  in  that  portion  of  it  which  has 
fallen  under  my  notice.  It  appears  to  me,  that  in  the  latitude  of 


40 

Massachusetts,  at  least  all  the  strata  between  the  Hudson  arid  Con- 
necticut rivers,  and  probably  a  little  west  of  the  Hudson,  about 
fifty  miles  in  breadth,  were  affected  by  this  disturbance.  The  first 
ridge,  in  going  westerly  from  the  Connecticut  to  Hudson  river,  is 
Hoosac  mountain,  and  its  eastern  slope  is  gentle,  while  its  western 
side  is  very  steep,  and  the  strata  are  nearly  perpendicular,  or  ra- 
diate-from  the  axis  of  the  mountain.  This  appears  to  have  been 
the  principal  axis  of  elevation.  Next  succeeds  a  deep  valley  and 
then  the  Taconic  range  of  mountains,  which  also  slopes  gently  on 
its  east  side,  while  its  west  side  is  very  steep,  and  its  crest  very 
narrow.  The  dip  of  the  strata  is  also  small  on  the  east  side,  and 
high  on  the  other.  Between  this  ridge  and  the  Hudson,  are  no 
ranges  of  mountains  very  well  marked,  but  the  same  large  in- 
verted dip  continues,  and  probably  more  than  one  folded  axis  may 
be  found  in  this  space.  Whether  the  belt  of  strata  that  have 
been  subjected  to  this  singular  disturbance,  is  as  broad,  north  or 
south  of  Massachusetts,  I  have  no  certain  knowledge  ;  but  pre- 
sume it  to  be  as  wide  and  probably  wider. 

I  am  aware  that  some  able  geologists,*  whose  opinions  I  highly 
respect,  and  who  have  carefully  observed  these  phenomena,  en- 
deavor to  explain  them  by  supposing  that  we  have  mistaken  the 
secondary  divisional  planes  of  the  rocks  for  true  planes  of  strati- 
fication ;  or  that  the  character  of  the  slaty  and  calcareous  rocks 
of  Taconic  and  Hoosac  mountains  has  been  misunderstood ;  and 
that  they  are  in  fact  more  recent  than  the  fossiliferous  rocks  near 
the  Hudson  ;  in  other  words,  that  they  are  metamorphic.  But 
for  reas'ons  that  cannot  now  be  given,  for  want  of  time,  I  have 
been  forced  to  relinquish  all  these  modes  of  explanation ;  and  al- 
though I  will  not  say  that  I  fully  adopt,  yet  I  cannot  but  look 
with  a  favorable  bias  upon  the  only  remaining  solution  of  the 
problem  already  hinted  at,  that  the  strata  have  actually  been  toss- 
ed over  from  their  original  position. 

Let  us  suppose  the  strata  between  Hudson  and  Connecticut 
rivers,  while  yet  in  a  plastic  state,  (and  the  supposition  may  be 
extended  to  any  other  section  across  this  belt  of  country  from 
Canada  to  Alabama,)  and  while  only  slightly  elevated,  were  acted 
upon  by  a  force  at  the  two  rivers,  exerted  in  opposite  directions. 
If  powerful  enough,  it  might  cause  them  to  fold  up  into  several 

*  See  Prof.  Emmons  and  Mather's  views  in  the  reports  of  the  New  York  sur- 
vey for  1837,  p.  232,  and  for  1841,  p.  92. 


41 

ridges  ;  and  if  more  powerful  along  the  western  than  the  eastern 
side,  they  might  fall  over  so  as  to  take  an  inverted  dip,  without 
producing  any  remarkable  dislocations,  while  subsequent  denuda- 
tion would  give  to  the  surface  its  present  outline. 

Now  in  support  of  such  a  supposition,  it  may  be  said,  first,  that 
it  would  satisfactorily  explain  the  present  position  of  the  strata. 
For  if  they  could  now  be  lifted  up  and  made  to  dip  in  an  opposite 
direction,  every  thing,  for  the  most  part,  would  be  brought  right ; 
that  is,  the  natural  order  of  superposition  would  be  restored.  Se- 
condly, this  supposition  explains  the  moderate  dip  of  the  rocks  in 
the  valleys,  and  the  gentle  slope  of  the  mountains  on  their  east- 
ern sides,  and  the  abrupt  escarpment  of  their  western  sides. 
Thirdly,  the  occurrence  of  thermal  springs  along  many  of  these 
folded  axes,  as  is  the  case  in  New  England  and  Virginia,  and  the 
extensive  dolomitization  of  the  limestone  in  the  valleys,  afford 
presumptive  evidence  of  long  lines  of  fracture,  just  where,  by  this 
hypothesis,  they  ought  to  exist.  Fourthly,  we  should  readily  ad- 
mit that  such  a  plication  and  inversion  of  the  strata  might  take 
place  on  a  small  scale.  If  for  instance,  we  were  to  press  against 
the  extremities  of  a  series  of  plastic  layers  two  feet  long,  they 
could  easily  be  made  to  assume  the  position  into  which  the  rocks 
under  consideration  are  thrown.  Why  then  should  we  not  be 
equally  ready  to  admit  that  this  might  as  easily  be  done,  over  a 
breadth  of  fifty  miles,  and  a  length  of  twelve  hundred,  provided 
we  can  find  in  nature,  forces  sufficiently  powerful  ?  Finally,  such 
forces  do  exist  in  nature,  and  have  often  been  in  operation.  After 
we  have  admitted,  as  every  geologist  does  admit,  that  the  exist- 
ing continents  and  mountains  of  the  globe  have  been  elevated 
from  the  ocean's  bed,  there  is  scarcely  any  effect,  short  of  an  im- 
possibility, which  we  may  not  impute  to  the  same  agency.  Merely 
for  illustration,  without  maintaining  its  truth,  let  us  suppose  with 
Beaumont,  that  the  vertical  movements  of  our  continents  result 
from  the  shrinking  of  the  internal  parts  of  the  earth,  which  cau- 
ses a  plication  of  its  crust,  simply  by  the  force  of  gravity.  And 
suppose  the  present  crest  of  the  Appalachian  and  Green  moun- 
tains to  have  formed  the  line  of  least  resistance  on  this  continent. 
Is  it  difficult  to  conceive,  that  by  such  a  power,  a  broad  belt  of 
the  earth's  crust,  more  than  a  thousand  miles  long,  might  have 
been  ridged  and  overturned,  with  just  as  much  facility,  as  a  sec- 
tion two  feet  long,  with  the  force  which  a  man  could  exert  ?  I 

6 


42 

apprehend  that  the  chief  difficulty  is  to  bring  the  mind  up  to  a 
realization  of  so  mighty  an  agency.  In  other  words,  the  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  narrowness  of  our  views,  rather  than  in  the  in- 
adequacy of  nature.  I  confess,  that  as  I  have  sometimes  stood 
upon  some  of  our  loftiest  mountains,  that  seem  to  have  been  over- 
turned, and  looked  into  the  valleys,  from  one  thousand  to  two 
thousand  feet  deep,  and  abroad  upon  the  vast  ridges  that  stretch- 
ed away  far  as  the  eye  could  follow  them  on  every  side,  and  then 
tried  to  conceive  of  them  extending  from  Canada  to  Alabama, 
and  to  have  been  ridged  up  and  thrown  over,  my  mind  has  stag- 
gered under  the  mighty  thought,  and  I  have  involuntarily  ex- 
claimed, that  such  a  work  could  have  been  performed  only  by 
the  immediate  agency  of  Him,  who  meted  out  heaven  with  a 
span,  and  comprehended  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure,  and 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance. 

But  I  must  not  dwell  longer  upon  this  fascinating  theme  : — and 
I  must  desist  also,  not  for  want  of  materials  but  for  want  of  time, 
from  pointing  out  other  objects  of  interest  in  American  geology 
that  deserve  the  special  attention  of  this  Association. 

And  now,  on  looking  back  upon  the  ground  which  I  have  gone 
over,  I  am  astonished  and  delighted  at  the  progress  of  American 
geology,  and  it  seems  to  me  more  like  a  dream  than  the  reality. 
Only  twenty  five  years  ago,  when  first  my  attention  was  turned 
to  the  subject,  excepting  the  grand  but  rough  outline  sketched  by 
Maclure,  and  a  few  insulated  efforts  by  Professors  Silliman,  Cleave- 
land  and  Eaton,  and  Dr.  Hayden,  all  was  darkness  and  perplexi- 
ty. A  geologist  was  as  rare  as  an  oasis  amid  the  sands  of  Africa  ; 
and  to  be  seen  accoutred  geologically,  with  hammer  and  knapsack, 
would  subject  one  to  ridicule,  if  not  to  a  suspicion  of  insanity. 
But  how  changed  the  scene  !  From  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the 
series,  the  principal  groups  of  our  rocks  seem  now  to  be  nearly 
settled  and  identified.  And  as  the  rapid  rise  and  developemetit 
of  this  great  nation  is  a  spectacle  of  deep  interest  and  sublimity, 
so  our  geologists  find  a  correspondent  grandeur  in  our  rock  forma- 
tions. Now  too,  nearly  all  the  state  governments  of  this  country 
extend  their  patronage  to  geological  researches  ;  lectures  upon  ge- 
ology are  demanded  and  given  in  all  our  larger  towns ;  and  the 
wonders  of  this  science  form  the  theme  of  discussion  in  the  draw- 
ing-rooms of  taste  and  fashion, 


43 

You  perceive,  therefore,  gentlemen,  that  in  the  work  which  we 
have  undertaken,  we  are  urged  forward  by  powerful  motives  ; — 
and  although  much  has  been  done,  still  more  remains  to  be  ac- 
complished. Indeed,  the  enterprise  is  as  yet  only  just  begun. 
Even  when  the  state  surveys  are  completed,  there  will  be  abun- 
dant opportunity  to  gather  fresh  laurels  in  the  same  field.  For, 
then  the  way  will  be  prepared  to  go  into  particular  districts,  un- 
incumbered  by  horses  and  carriages,  and  spending  time  enough 
there  on  foot,  fully  to  explore  and  understand  their  structure  ;  a 
work,  which  can  hardly  be  done,  except  in  a  few  instances,  du- 
ring the  limited  time  devoted  to  the  state  surveys.  A  multitude 
of  points  in  our  geology,  also,  are  yet  only  dimly  seen,  or  imper- 
fectly settled.  In  fixing  these,  and  developing  new  discoveries, 
there  will  arise  differences  of  opinion,  and  we  may  expect  to  fall 
into  frequent  perplexities  and  mistakes.  But  let  not  such  differ- 
ences generate  distrust  and  alienation,  among  those  who  have  an 
important  common  cause  to  sustain,  and  an  interest  as  well  as  fel- 
low-feeling in  sustaining  one  another.  Let  discussion  be  as  free 
as  air ;  and  let  every  man  keep  his  mind  open  to  conviction  ; — 
but  American  geologists,  above  all  other  scientific  men,  have  no 
time  for  personal  altercation.  They  have  too  great  a  work  before 
them  ;  they  are  scattered  over  so  vast  a  field,  that  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult to  interfere  with  one  another ;  and  all  of  them,  I  doubt  not, 
would  welcome  other  laborers,  to  aid  in  gathering  the  abundant 
harvest. 

I  make  these  remarks,  not  because  I  have  observed  among  our 
geologists  any  peculiar  tendency  to  alienation  and  controversy, 
but  because  I  have  witnessed  the  reverse  ;  and,  therefore,  such 
remarks  may  have  some  influence  in  preserving  them  from  those 
jealousies  and  personal  altercations  that  have  too  often  broken  up 
the  harmony  of  scientific  associations. 

As  motives  to  continued  exertion  I  have  mentioned  the  favor  of 
government,  and  the  just  estimation  in  which  the  community  are 
beginning  to  hold  our  favorite  science.  But  there  are  con- 
siderations of  a  much  more  elevated  character,  to  urge  onward 
the  genuine  student  of  nature.  The  cultivation  of  this  science 
carries  with  it  its  own  reward.  It  is  continually  disclosing  to  its 
votaries,  facts  and  inferences  of  most  thrilling  interest.  How 
eagerly  does  the  antiquary  unroll  the  newly  discovered  papyrus, 
that  reveals  an  earlier  chapter  in  a  nation's  history,  or  the  exist- 


44 

ence  of  some  hitherto  unknown  race !  The  farther  back  the 
new  record  carries  him,  the  deeper  is  his  interest  and  enthusiasm. 
Such  developements  of  lost  races  and  lost  ages  in  the  world's 
history,  are  continually  rewarding  the  labors  of  the  geologist ; — 
and  in  point  of  antiquity,  I  had  almost  said,  that  the  most  ancient 
event  in  chronology,  the  six  days  work  of  creation,  is  the  most 
recent  in  geology.  From  that  beginning  of  registered  time,  we 
wander  back  through  cycles  of  duration,  which  we  can  measure 
only  by  a  succession  of  events,  and  not  by  chronological  dates, 
except  to  be  assured  that  they  are  inconceivably  long ; — and  yet, 
the  relics  of  those  early  periods  are  as  fresh  as  if  entombed  yester- 
day. The  fossil  reptile,  or  fish,  or  shell, — nay,  even  their  most 
delicate  parts,  are  as  perfect  as  when  alive  ;  although  tens,  and 
perhaps  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  have  rolled  away  since 
they  died.  We  see  their  footmarks  following  one  another  in  reg- 
ular succession,  as  distinct  as  those  of  living  animals  upon  the 
snow  and  the  mud  j  and  even  the  pattering  of  a  shower,  that  fell 
thousands  of  ages  ago,  is  as  fresh  before  us,  as  if  every  drop  had 
been  instantly  petrified.  In  short,  there  passes  before  us  a  series 
of  distinct  creations  of  organic  beings,  adapted  to  the  varying 
condition  of  our  planet ;  each  successive  group  becoming  more 
and  more  perfect,  until  every  thing  in  nature  was  prepared  for  the 
existing  races,  with  man  as  the  crown  of  all. 

Such  developements  as  these  are  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as 
the  dreams  of  disordered  fancy,  but  as  the  sober  and  legitimate 
deductions  of  science.  And  what  large  and  refreshing  views  do 
they  present  of  the  plans  and  the  benevolence  of  the  Deity ! 
They  open  back  a  vista  as  far  and  as  wide  into  the  arcana  of  time, 
as  astronomy  discloses  into  the  arcana  of  space.  They  show 
us  that  the  brief  space  of  man's  existence  on  the  globe,  is  but 
one  of  the  units  of  a  vast  series  of  cycles  that  have  passed  already 
away ; — and  the  time  is  at  hand,  when  geology,  equally  with 
astronomy,  will  be  celebrated  for  its  power  of  liberalizing  the 
mind  and  filling  it  with  noble  conceptions  of  the  universe  and  its 
Infinite  Author.  Surely,  in  such  ennobling  thoughts,  the  geolo- 
gist finds  a  rich  reward  for  all  his  toils. 

I  know  indeed,  that  our  science  has  been  regarded  as  coming 
into  collision  with  that  sacred  volume,  to  which,  as  Christians, 
we  are  bound  to  bow  as  the  invariable  standard  of  religious  truth. 
Geologists,  too,  have  been  represented,  and  I  must  say  without 


45 

any  proof  from  their  writings,  as  exulting  in  the  supposed  collis- 
ion ; — but  I  am  happy  to  believe,  that  such  apprehensions  are  rap- 
idly passing  away.  Theologians,  of  enlarged  and  impartial  minds 
are  beginning  to  study  geology  ;  and  instead  of  finding  its  truths 
hostile  to  revelation,  they  find,  that  it  furnishes  them  with  new 
and  interesting  matter,  such  as  no  other  science  can,  for  illustra- 
ting the  perfections  and  government  of  Jehovah  ; — and  such  men 
as  Drs.  Chalmers  and  Smith,*  have  already  reaped  from  it  a  rich 
harvest.  I  trust  that  the  day  is  not  distant,  when  the  supposed 
geological  objection  to  revelation  will  be  as  little  remembered,  as 
is  now  the  analogous  objection  derived  from  the  Copernican  sys- 
tem of  astronomy  ;  and  which,  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago, 
was  supposed  to  be  fraught  with  so  much  danger. 

Another  mode  in  which  practical  geology  carries  with  it  its 
own  reward,  is  by  bringing  us  into  constant  communion  with 
unsophisticated  nature,  in  her  most  sublime  and  interesting  as- 
pects. It  is  hardly  possible  to  place  the  geologist  in  any  spot  on 
the  globe,  where  he  does  not  witness  around  him  the  marks  of 
mighty  agencies  and  revolutions,  that  are  unheeded  by  the  com- 
mon mind,  but  which  furnish  him  with  a  rich  fund  for  reflection. 
But  his  most  appropriate  place  is  among  the  wildest  scenery  of 
nature ;  now,  plunging  into  the  deep  cavern,  studded  with  glit- 
tering spars,  and  perhaps  the  charnel-house  of  the  antediluvian 
world  ;  now,  tracing  his  way  through  the  dark  gorge,  with  jutting 
rocks  rising  around  him,  as  if  they  formed  the  battlements  of 
heaven  ;  now,  mounting  the  lofty  ridge  and  drinking  in  the  glo- 
ries of  the  vast  landscape ;  and  now,  standing  upon  the  edge  of 
the  yawning  precipice,  to  witness  the  roaring  cataract,  as  the 
waters  thunder  down  their  steep  and  rocky  bed,  until,  escaping 
from  their  narrow  passage,  they  flow  out  quietly,  as  the  calm  and 
majestic  river,  to  fertilize  and  beautify  the  extended  plain.  In 
all  these  scenes,  he  sees  the  arm  of  Omnipotence  laid  bare,  and 
is  initiated  into  the  sublimest  mysteries  of  nature.  There,  while 
his  body  and  his  mind  are  invigorated,  he  acquires  a  permanent 
relish  for  all  in  creation  that  is  sublimely  great  and  elegantly  lit- 
tle. Henceforth,  he  possesses  a  source  of  gratification  of  which 

*  See  Chalmers's  Natural  Theology,  and  Smith's  Lectures  on  the  Relation  be- 
tween the  Holy  Scriptures  and  some  parts  of  Geological  Science.  An  able  view 
of  this  subject  is  also  given  in  the  sermons  of  Rev.  Mr.  Melville,  of  London,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  297,  Am.  edition. 


46 

all  the  fluctuations  and  calamities  of  life  cannot  deprive  him. 
Other  sources  of  happiness,  as  circumstances  change  and  age  ad- 
vances, will  pass  away.  But,  a  genuine  attachment  to  nature 
clinging  to  the  heart  will  buoy  it  up,  when  the  powers  begin  to 
fail,  and  the  floods  of  affliction  to  roll  over  us  ;  and  like  the  vol- 
cano surrounded  by  polar  snows,  the  flame  will  seem  more  bright 
and  beautiful  amid  the  frosts  of  age.  Hac.  studia  adolescentiarn 
alunt,  senectutem  oblectant,  secundas  res  ornant,  adversis  perfu- 
gium  ac  solatium  prcebent ;  delectant  domi,  non  impediunt  foris  ; 
pernoctant  nobiscum,  peregrinantur,  rusticantur.  (Cicero,  Orat. 
pro  Archia.) 

Gentlemen,  in  these  remarks  I  am  confident  that  I  am  descri- 
bing your  own  experience.  For  this  love  of  nature,  and  not 
governmental  or  individual  patronage,  has  been  your  chief  stim- 
ulant in  geological  research.  Should  that  patronage,  which  is 
now  extended  to  your  efforts,  be  withdrawn, — of  which  I  have 
little  fear, — and  should  the  tide  of  popular  favor  turn  against 
you,  I  know  that  you  will  not,  therefore,  be  diverted  from  your 
favorite  pursuit.  No  :  let  us  rather  pledge  ourselves  to  more  vig- 
orous efforts  in  this  noble  enterprise,  which  has  already  done 
so  much,  and  is  destined  to  do  much  more,  to  develop  the  re- 
sources of  our  beloved  country ;  so  much  to  awaken  youthful 
genius ;  so  much  to  promote  our  personal  happiness  ;  so  much  to 
-enlarge  the  boundaries  of  science ;  and,  above  all,  so  much  to  un- 
fold the  glories  and  illustrate  the  perfections  of  the  INFINITE 
DEITY. 


Officers  of  the  Association  for  1841-2. 

Prof.  B.  SILLIMAN,  LL.  D.,  M.  D.,  and  F.  G.  S.  L.,  &c., 

Chairman. 

Prof.  LEWIS  C.  BECK,  M.  D.,  &c.,  Secretary. 
Mr.  B.  SILLIMAN,  Jr. 


Mr.  B.  SILLIMAN,  Jr.  )  .  0 

Mr.  CHARLES  B.  TREGO,   \  ^^tant  Secretaries. 


47 


List  of  th6  Members  of  the  Association  of  American  Geologists. 


Prof.  B.  SILLIMAN, 

New  Haven,  Ct. 
Prof.  EDWARD  HITCHCOCK, 

Amherst,  Mass. 
Prof.  LEWIS  C.  BECK, 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
Prof.  HENRY  D.  ROGERS, 

Philadelphia. 


LARDNER  VANUXEM, 


Bristol,  Pa. 
WILLIAM  W.  MATHER, 

Jackson  C.  H.,  Ohio. 
Prof.  WALTER  R.  JOHNSON, 

Philadelphia. 
TIMOTHY  A.  CONRAD, 

Philadelphia. 
Prof.  EBENEZER  EMMONS, 


JAMES  HALL, 


CHARLES  B.  TREGO, 


Albany,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 


Prof.  JAMES  C.  BOOTH, 


Philadelphia. 


Philadelphia. 
MARTIN  H.  Bo  YE, 

Philadelphia. 
ROBERT  E.  ROGERS,  M.  D., 

Philadelphia. 
ALEXANDER  McKiNLEY, 


C.  B.  HAYDEN, 


Philadelphia. 

Smithfield,  Va. 
RICHARD  C.  TAYLOR, 

Philadelphia. 
DOUGLASS  HOUGHTON,  M.  D., 

Detroit,  Michigan. 
BELA  HUBBARD, 

Detroit,  Michigan. 
CHARLES  T.  JACKSON,  M.  1)., 

Boston,  Mass. 
Prof.  J.  T.  DUCATEL, 

Baltimore,  Md. 
Prof.  JAMES  B.  ROGERS, 

Philadelphia. 


Prof.  WILLIAM  B.  ROGERS, 

University  of  Virginia. 


C.  BRIGGS,  Jr., 


Columbus,  Ohio. 


S.  P.   HlLDRETH,  M.   D., 


Prof.  J.  P.   KlRTLAND, 


Marietta,   Ohio. 


Prof.  JOHN  LOCKE, 


Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


Prof.  J.  LANG  CASSELS, 


F.  MERRICK, 
J.  W.  FOSTER, 


Willoughby,  Ohio. 


Athens,  Ohio. 


Zanesville,  Ohio. 


CHARLES  WHITTLESEY, 


EZRA  S.  CARR, 


Columbus,  Ohio. 


E.  N.  HORSFORD, 


Albany,  N.  Y. 


Albany,  N.  Y. 


EBENEZER  EMMONS,  Jr., 

Albany,  N.  Y. 
WILLIAM  HORTON, 

Craigville.  Orange  Co.,N.  Y. 
COLUMBUS  C.  DOUGLASS, 

Detroit,  Michigan. 
ABRAHAM  SAGER,  M.  D., 

Detroit,  Michigan. 
JOHN  R.  COTTING, 

Milledgeville,  Georgia. 
ANDREW  A.  HENDERSON, 

Huntingdon,  Penn. 
ROBERT  M.  S.  JACKSON,  % 

Huntingdon,  Penn. 
JAMES  T.  HODGE, 

Plymouth,  Mass. 
ISRAEL  SLADE, 

Charlottesville,  Va. 
Prof.  CHARES  B.  ADAMS, 

Middlebury,  Vt. 
ABRAHAM  JENKINS,  Jr., 

Barre,  Mass. 


48 


Prof.  ALBERT  HOPKINS, 


OWEN  MASON, 


Williamstown,  Mass. 


JOHN  L.  HAYES, 


Providence,  R.  I. 


JOSIAH  D.  WHITNEY, 


Portsmouth,  N.  H. 


Northampton,  Mass. 
MOSES  B.  WILLIAMS, 

Boston,  Mass. 
P.  LESLEY,  Jr., 

Philadelphia. 
Prof.  OLIVER  P.  HUBBARD, 

Hanover,  N.  H. 
Prof.  J.  W.  BAILEY, 

West  Point,  N.  Y. 

B.   SlLLlMAN,  Jr., 

New  Haven,  Ct. 
PETER  A.  BROWNE, 

Philadelphia. 
WILLIAM  C.  REDFIELD, 


JOSEPH  A.  CLAY, 


EDWARDS  HALL, 
J.  N.  NICOLLET, 


New  York. 
Philadelphia. 


GEORGE  B.  EMERSON, 


Boston,  Mass. 


JOHN  F.  PRAZER, 


FRANCIS  MARKOE,  Jr., 


Philadelphia. 


Washington  City. 
Rev.  ALONZO  GRAY, 

Andover,  Mass. 
JOHN  H.  REDFIELD,  New  York. 
Prof.  AMOS  EATON, 

Troy,  N.  Y. 
JAMES  D.  WHELPLEY, 

Neiv  Haven,  Ct. 


ISAAC  LEA, 


Philadelphia. 


Albany,  N.  Y. 
Baltimore. 


Prof.  PARKER  CLEAVELAND, 

Bowdoin,  Maine. 
Prof.  J.  W.  WEBSTER, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Prof.  CHESTER  DEWEY, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 
SAMUEL  L.  DANA,  M.  D., 

Lowell,  Mass. 
T.  ROMEYN  BECK,  M.  D., 

Albany,  N.  Y. 
'Prof.  JAMES  RENWICK, 


New  York. 


SAMUEL  G.  MORTON,  M.  D., 

Philadelphia. 
RICHARD  HARLAN,  M.  D., 


JOHN  GRISCOM, 


Philadelphia. 
Philadelphia. 


THOMAS  NUTTALL, 


H.  H.  HAYDEN,  M.  D., 


Philadelphia. 


Baltimore. 


Dr.  HENRY  KING, 

St.  Louis,  Missouri. 
DAVID  DALE  OWEN, 

New  Harmony,  Indiana. 


Officers  of  the  Association  for  the  Meeting  to  be  held  in  Boston 

the  last  Monday  in  April,  1842. 
SAMUEL  GEORGE  MORTON,  M.  D.,  &c.,    Chairman. 
CHARLES  T.  JACKSON,  F.  G.  S.,  (France,)  M.  D.,  &c.  Secretary. 
Prof.  EDWARD  HITCHCOCK, ""I 
Dr.  CHARLES  T.  JACKSON,    > Local  Committee. 
Mr.  MOSES  B.  WILLIAMS,     J 
Prof.  B.  SILLIMAN,  LL.  D.,  &c.  to  deliver  the  opening  address. 


R 


14  DAY  USE 


TEL:  642-2997 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


LD  21-40m-l  '68 
(H7452810)476 


054- 


